You Can’t Fool Yourself Into Someone Else’s Heart (Kyuhyun/Sungmin, R)
Title: You Can’t Fool Yourself Into Someone Else’s Heart
Author: xdespondence
Recipient: mysapphiresky
Characters/Pairings: Kyuhyun/Sungmin
Rating: R
Genre(s): Romance
Warnings: N/A
Author's Note: I had several arguments with this fic and nearly didn’t make the deadline, but I hope it came out alright!
Kyuhyun finds himself in an unwanted predicament. A very big, unwanted predicament.
He’s in the lobby of a hotel, frustrated to the point where his neck his heating up and he needs to take off his jacket. His broken Japanese is hardly enough for himself to be understood, and although the man standing beside him is just a little bit better at communicating, it seems like their meaning still isn’t conveyed.
He’s currently in the lobby of a five star hotel in Japan with Lee Sungmin, both of them trying their best to tell the receptionist that they were given the same hotel room when they really shouldn’t have. When they don’t wish to share a room. When they kind of dislike each other, actually.
The receptionist stares blankly at them, while continuing to apologize profusely in Japanese.
“Fuck this.” Kyuhyun loosens his tie a little-it’s becoming difficult to breathe. “I’ll just find another hotel in the city. You keep the room.”
“Hotels at this time of year are always completely booked. Trust me, I know-I’ve vacationed here during Christmas in the last few years.”
Then why is your Japanese still shit? Kyuhyun wants to snap. Instead, he says, “Okay. Then what?”
“Then…” Sungmin sighs. “I guess we’ll share the room?”
He half wants to start shouting at the receptionist again, but he figures it’d be futile. “Fine,” he huffs, turning on his heel and stalking towards the elevators, suitcase in tow. Sungmin follows suit.
Kyuhyun already disliked having to work over the holidays when he could be enjoying himself at home with ramyun and his laptop, but having to share a room with Lee Sungmin just made things ten times worse. Kyuhyun doesn’t see Sungmin often, but the fact that they work at rival companies sort of puts an edge on everything-not to mention that Sungmin got just as many promotions as Kyuhyun in a shorter amount of time.
When he and Sungmin enter their room, they stand awkwardly for a moment, because both of them realize that there’s only one bed.
“I’ll take the couch,” the other man says, bringing his luggage to said couch. “You have the bed.”
Out of courtesy, Kyuhyun should probably refuse it at least once, but instead, he just agrees. He doesn’t want to sleep on the couch, and he doesn’t really care if Sungmin has to be the one with a sore neck for a while.
It’s going to be a long week.
-
Kyuhyun dislikes Sungmin partially on principle (you can’t not dislike people who work for rival companies), but also partially because Sungmin is pretty close to flawless. Kyuhyun has seen him (and talked with him) on several occasions during big events when several companies are gathered together, or over the phone when trying to steal clients, and he’s realized that the only imperfection that the other man has is that he has none. It’s always been a little damaging to Kyuhyun’s ego.
That evening, he goes out for dinner with his client, his tie straight, suit buttoned up and briefcase in hand. If he can get this deal in one sitting, then he won’t have to be here for a week, and he can go home.
His client is a Korean man who’s been living in Japan for a few years, so Kyuhyun communicates easily with him. Under the dim lighting of the restaurant, they discuss the several different proposals that Kyuhyun has prepared, but by the end of the evening, they’ve gotten nowhere. Kyuhyun has had clients like this one-they dangle their money in front of you and watch you try to grab it. Sometimes, they end up agreeing, but sometimes, they back out in the last minute because they never planned to take up the deal in the first place. They are Kyuhyun’s least favorite type of clients.
He and Sungmin don’t exchange words when he returns-he drops his briefcase on the bed, loosens his tie, and goes straight into the bathroom for a shower to relieve his tense muscles. He’s tired. He has to see his client again in three days.
He doesn’t sleep until late that night-long after Sungmin has fallen asleep, body rising and falling to deep breathing. That bastard doesn’t even snore. Kyuhyun glances at him once in a while through the darkness, the room only illuminated by his bedside lamp and laptop. The minutes tick on and he’s afraid Sungmin’s going to wake up suddenly to go to the bathroom or something, see him still up, and judge his sleeping habits, but it doesn’t happen once. Kyuhyun ends up sleeping at five in the morning.
He dreams of faint silhouettes and sharp edges but soft skin, and he’s not sure what it means.
-
An alarm is what pulls him out of his dreams-which is kind of weird, because he doesn’t even have an alarm set, but after the grogginess clears a little from his mind, he remembers that he’s not the only one sleeping in this room.
He rolls over, arms flopping onto the other side of the bed, to check the time on his phone. 8:30. Holy hell. If Sungmin woke up at this ungodly hour of the day because he felt like it and not because he has an appointment, Kyuhyun is going to strangle him later on once he’s had enough sleep.
“Ah, sorry, did I wake you?” Sungmin apologizes, but he doesn’t even sound like he cares.
Kyuhyun grunts. “Whatever. I’ll fall back asleep, don’t worry.” He drifts in and out of sleep, always being pulled back by Sungmin’s rustling about in the room, the water running, the ping of a laptop turning on. At one point, he cracked his eyes open and saw the wide expanse of Sungmin’s back, smooth skin and broad shoulders and whoa okay, he could have lived without that image being burned into his retinas.
(It’s a very nice back, though, he grudgingly admits. He’s flawless, his brain tells him. Shut up, he snaps back.)
He sleeps again until noon, and when he wakes up, Sungmin isn’t around. He lazily gets out of bed and dresses himself, before checking his phone. There’s a missed call from Heechul, one of his colleagues. (Colleague-ish, considering Heechul forces other people to do more than half of his work.)
“Did you call me?”
“Oh hey, Kyuhyun. I was just wondering if you could pick up some of those cracker snacks for me on your way back? I haven’t had those in a while.”
Kyuhyun blinks. “There are a million types of cracker snacks in Japan, hyung. You’re going to have to be more specific.”
“Y’know, the ones that are wasabi flavored! I used to eat them all the time.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t pay attention to you every waking moment of the day.”
From the other end of the line, Heechul sighs. “You suck. This is why I miss Hankyung.”
“You’re probably the reason why Hankyung quit.”
There’s a moment of hurt silence. Serves you right, Kyuhyun thinks. “So,” Heechul says abruptly, changing the subject. “Did you get the deal done?”
“Nope. Trying again in a few days.”
“Hm. I heard that the Devil’s Spawn sent someone to Japan too-have you heard of anything?”
The Devil’s Spawn is Heechul’s nickname for their rival company. Kyuhyun thinks it’s kind of fitting, with how quickly they’re expanding. “Yeah, they sent Lee Sungmin.”
“Really? How do you know?”
“Some stupid mixup at the hotel. I’m rooming with him right now.”
The silence is brief, before Heechul begins to shriek in hysterical laughter on the other end of the line. Kyuhyun holds his phone a few inches away from his ear. “Did you jump him yet?” Heechul screams. Kyuhyun winces.
“No? Why would I?”
“Dude, have you seen that ass?”
No, but I’ve seen his back. “Just because you’re gay, doesn’t mean we all are, hyung.”
“Liar.”
Kyuhyun’s just a little miffed. “I’m not lying.”
“We’ll see if that still stands when you can’t resist that ass.”
“I’m hanging up now,” he says, and does just that. He’s always going to regret that drunk escapade he had with Heechul last year. Sighing, Kyuhyun gets out of bed and gets ready. He has nothing to do until his next meeting with his client, so he might as well go around and do some sightseeing.
And he does just that-in the afternoon, he finds a place that sells some nice wine, and he buys himself a bottle. He’ll enjoy himself tonight. Screw clients. Screw work. Screw Sungmin-he’s in Japan, he loves this place, and he loves wine. Kyuhyun does what he wants.
That evening, he settles down in bed with a glass of wine on the bedside table beside him. He’s on his laptop and surfing the internet for a good new movie to watch when the lock of the door clicks open and Sungmin enters the room, dressed in casual clothes and a bag slung over his shoulder. Kyuhyun takes care to stare right at his laptop to avoid any awkwardness-since it’s pretty awkward that he’s in his pajamas, in bed, on his laptop, drinking wine. He has to admit that much.
No words are exchanged as Sungmin shrugs his jacket off and puts his bag away to the side. And then: “Is that Cabernet Sauvignon?”
Kyuhyun glances at the bottle of wine beside his glass-the label isn’t even facing Sungmin. “Yeah. Why?”
“Oh. I was just wondering.” Sungmin nods in acknowledgement. “You have good taste.”
“…Thanks.” Kyuhyun returns to his laptop. The fact that Sungmin recognized what wine it was without even seeing the label-that means that Sungmin’s good with wine. Kyuhyun doesn’t know anyone who’s good with wine-most of his friends just go for hard liquor-whatever gets them drunk the fastest.
He glances over at Sungmin, who’s rearranging some things in his suitcase to fit whatever it is that he brought back with him today. “Would you like a glass?”
The other man looks up at him. “Pardon?”
“Erm.” Kyuhyun shifts uncomfortably on the bed. “A glass. Of Cabernet Sauvignon. Would you like one?”
Sungmin’s eyes light up immediately, and it throws Kyuhyun off. “Can I?”
“Y-Yeah. Of course.” He slides out of bed to grab another glass, suddenly embarrassed at his rubber ducky pajama bottoms.
He hands Sungmin the wine, who swirls it and breathes it in with eyes closed, before exhaling slowly. Kyuhyun swallows. He turns away just before Sungmin’s lips touch the rim of the glass, because he knows that if his eyes linger for just a moment longer, he probably won’t be able to turn away. Sungmin has…nice lips. They’re just as nice as his back.
(Heechul’s words from earlier today echo in his mind, and he mentally punches himself.)
“I haven’t been able to enjoy a good glass of wine in a while,” Sungmin says from behind Kyuhyun. “Thank you.” The usual edge in his voice is gone and it almost sounds foreign-Kyuhyun has never heard Sungmin speak without his usual steeliness.
“It’s no problem. I wouldn’t have been able to finish the entire bottle anyway.”
Sungmin leaves his glass on the table beside the television and slips into the bathroom. The water begins to run and Kyuhyun gets back into bed, deciding to just continue watching his drama tonight.
He nearly has a heart attack when Sungmin comes back out, because for one, he is only wearing a bathrobe. And two, his hair is still damp. Sungmin’s bare feet quietly pad across the room as he picks up his glass of wine and takes a sip of it, the glass pressing delicately against his bottom lip. Kyuhyun swallows.
No. Devil’s Spawn, remember? He is from the Devil’s Spawn.
A beep from his laptop startles him out of his reverie.
Heedictator (23:42:11): did you jump him yet
He switches windows and begins to play his drama. Doing a very bad job of ignoring Sungmin, who is practically naked on the other side of the room, on his own laptop as he’s enjoying his wine.
Heedictator (23:45:24): kyuhyun don’t ignore me
Heedictator (23:45:30): if you don’t respond i’m assuming you’re fucking him right now
Heedictator (23:45:33): wait i mean he’s fucking you right now
Heedictator (23:45:35): don’t think i forgot how much you like to bottom
Cho Kyuhyun (23:46:07): Go away.
Heedictator (23:46:18): dammit i was making bets with donghae >:(
Kyuhyun’s half tempted to type, He’s wearing nothing but a bathrobe and he’s constantly in my line of sight, what do I do? but catches himself last minute and exits the conversation. He will not be hooking up with Sungmin tonight. Besides, Sungmin isn’t even that attractive. He’s actually kind of fat.
Sungmin sits on the other side of the room in his bathrobe, drinking his wine, and glances at Kyuhyun out of the corner of his eye.
“I don’t hate you, you know,” he finally says, sighing a little. “So you can stop looking at me like you want to strangle me.”
“What-I don’t want to strangle you,” Kyuhyun sputters, because actually, just moments ago, he wasn’t imagining Sungmin’s neck in his hands-he was imagining other things, no thanks to Heechul.
“Uh-huh.” Sungmin doesn’t look convinced. “Look. We just happen to have different employers. I don’t have a vendetta against you or anything, so can we not constantly have this sort of tension between us whenever we’re in the same room together?”
Kyuhyun kind of wants to say no out of obligation, but he doesn’t want to spend the next week like this either. “Yeah, okay. Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Sungmin empties his glass and stands up, heading over to Kyuhyun and pouring himself another glass. “So what are you doing?”
“Just watching a drama.”
“Can I watch too?”
He stares incredulously at Sungmin. Put some clothes on first, he wants to say, but instead he just goes with, “Okay. Sure.”
The bed is actually big enough for two people, so Sungmin goes around it and places his wine on the other bedside table and climbs in beside Kyuhyun, giving Kyuhyun a great view of his chest from his angle. Wow, not cool, man. So not cool.
He receives a new instant message, and the window automatically pops up.
Heedictator (23:52:31): is he fucking you now?!?!
Oh my God. He exits out of the instant messaging program completely and switches the drama into fullscreen mode.
They watch the drama in silence, drinking their wine. At one point or another, Kyuhyun nods off-when he wakes up again, his laptop is gone from the bed and is sitting on the table, turned off. He’s still sitting against the headboard of the bed, but the covers are drawn around him-the room is dark, and in the faint moonlight from the window, he sees Sungmin’s sleeping form on the couch.
A little perturbed, Kyuhyun shifts so he’s actually lying down in bed, and sleeps again.
-
The alarm. That goddamn alarm.
Kyuhyun flops over, groaning into his pillow. Sungmin is already getting up, the shuffling of his things far too loud for Kyuhyun’s ears.
“You want to get some breakfast with me?” Although Sungmin’s speaking regularly, it sounds like screaming to Kyuhyun.
“What time is it?” His voice comes out raspy.
“8:30.”
He groans. “I should not be conscious right now.” But he drags himself up anyway, because he doesn’t want to seem like a bum to Sungmin. Sungmin is already perfect as it is-Kyuhyun doesn’t have to emphasize his own faults.
They have breakfast at a small western café down the street, the chilly morning air rattling their bones. Kyuhyun orders a cappuccino, while Sungmin just has regular coffee-black. Sungmin is like the typical businessman-even now, he’s wearing a clean-cut outfit of form-fitting jeans, white t-shirt, and a grey blazer overtop. Kyuhyun just threw on a hoodie earlier and pulled on some sweats.
They eat in silence, Kyuhyun feeling underdressed, sleepy, and grumpy.
“So, what made you decide to be in this field?”
He looks at Sungmin, who’s watching him, waiting for an answer. He shrugs. “Nothing, really. Both my parents and my sister are professors, and I didn’t want to just follow the footsteps of the family-so I chose this. It’s still a dignified career, so I didn’t get disowned.”
“So do you like your job?”
“It’s alright.”
“Is there anything else you’ve wanted to do?”
While this isn’t exactly classified information, Kyuhyun doesn’t particularly want to tell Sungmin about his life dreams. “No, not really. How about you?”
“I’ve…” The other man drinks his coffee thoughtfully. “I’ve always wanted to teach martial arts.”
Kyuhyun raises his eyebrows. “Really.”
“Yeah.” Sungmin shrugs. “I was at the top of my class when I was younger. I was almost at the same level as my teacher-if I wanted to, I could’ve gone a little bit further and gotten qualified to be a teacher myself.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Same reasons as you, maybe? My parents never outright opposed my thoughts, but I don’t think they expected me to do anything about the martial arts lessons they provided me. They always pushed me towards better-providing careers like this one. So I did what they wanted me to do.” Sungmin’s expression was impassive, indifferent to what he was telling Kyuhyun-like he has either long since accepted that this is what his life will be like, or he just doesn’t care anymore. It’s a little bit…sad?
Kyuhyun nods, and they fall into a brief silence. Then, a little unsure, he says, “When I was younger, I…wanted to be a singer.”
“Oh?” Sungmin’s interest is suddenly piqued. “Are you good?”
“I guess so.” Kyuhyun rubs the back of his neck in slight embarrassment. “Or so I’ve been told.” Actually, almost everyone from his company has told him as such-but no one but Heechul and Donghae actually know about his desire to be a singer, because they’re the only ones he’s been friends with long enough to know. Kyuhyun kind of got over it after a few years-it’s not like he can’t sing just because he’s not standing on stage.
“Mm.” Sungmin nods. “Do you want to go out for karaoke tonight?”
“What?”
“Karaoke. Do you want to?”
While Kyuhyun doesn’t mind going to karaoke (he actually enjoys it quite a bit), Sungmin is the last person he wants to go with. It’d just be awkward. Breakfast right now is awkward-how are they going to be comfortable enough to eat snacks, drink, and sing overplayed songs from the nineties?
“Probably not,” he cautions. “Don’t you have to work?”
“Not until tomorrow,” Sungmin answers, although most of his earlier excitement has already gone out. “I have a meeting at lunch, but no sooner.”
“Oh.” Kyuhyun shifts uncomfortably in his seat. That’s a bit awkward. “Well, uh…” Crap, he doesn’t have any other excuses, because his next meeting isn’t until tomorrow evening. “I guess…karaoke would be okay, then?”
Sometimes, he really wishes he accepted Heechul’s offer of socializing lessons back when they were younger.
-
If he wants to get through tonight without any awkward incidents-or without remember them, anyway-he’s going to need alcohol.
A few bottles of soju are sitting on the table, waiting to be opened, along with a few snacks that they brought with them. Sungmin is flipping through the catalogue of songs right now, and asks Kyuhyun, “What kind of music do you like to sing?”
“Ballads, usually. But I guess I sing anything if it’s a good song.”
“Mm. Oh! How about this one?” Sungmin holds the book out to him, pointing at one track. “This was one of my favorite Japanese songs as a kid.”
“Me too.”
The other man grins. “We kind of have more in common than we originally thought, don’t we?” And although Kyuhyun doesn’t really want to give in, doesn’t want to make friends with one of the Devil’s Spawn-it’s hard. His lips tilt into a small smile. In the dim light of the karaoke room, Sungmin looks a little charming. Just a little.
Kyuhyun sings the song like it’s nothing; he knows the lyrics backwards and forwards. He’s sung it in the shower, for a talent show, in front of friends-it’s become more of a stress reliever than anything. But all the same, once the microphone leaves his lips, Sungmin applauds like he just listened to Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto. A little sheepish, Kyuhyun puts the microphone down and sits down beside him, pouring himself a glass of soju. He’s going to need more of this than he originally thought.
“You’re really good, Kyuhyun! With a voice like that, you definitely would’ve smade it big!”
Kyuhyun laughs, the alcohol thrumming pleasantly in his veins. “Thanks. Let’s hear you sing now.”
Sungmin leans back in his seat. “I think I’ll sound like a dying cat compared to you. I wasn’t really taking you seriously when you said you wanted to be a singer, to be honest.”
“Mm.” Kyuhyun flips through the catalogue and chooses a random one. “Here, your turn.”
The music begins to play, and Sungmin looks at him incredulously. He just shrugs and tags another swig of soju. (It’s not quite as refined as wine, but it gets the job done.)
So Sungmin gets up and sings-and of course he’s not as good as Kyuhyun (of course), but he’s still good. There have been times when Kyuhyun went out singing with Heechul and wished he could’ve been anywhere else, so the fact that his ears don’t feel like they’re bleeding is already a pretty good sign.
About an hour later, he receives a text. From Heechul, but Kyuhyun isn’t surprised-Heechul is the only one who texts him, really. Him and Donghae. They like to bother him. R u fucking him now??
He rolls his eyes and slips his phone back into his pocket, looking up to see Sungmin holding a microphone out to him. “This one’s a duet,” the other man explains.
“Is it some stupid love song?”
“You mean to say that there are duets that aren’t stupid love songs?”
And Kyuhyun has to admit-it’s kind of fun. Sungmin certainly isn’t bad company, and…Kyuhyun almost enjoys himself. The alcohol’s probably helping him along a little, but he feels warm and full-a way he doesn’t usually feel.
It’s late when they finally return to the hotel, Kyuhyun searching his pockets and wallet for his room card. The seconds tick past and the embarrassment flushes his cheeks a deep pink as he checks and rechecks every place he could’ve placed the card. He couldn’t have lost it-he never loses room cards.
From behind him, Sungmin laughs quietly. “No worries, I have mine.” Kyuhyun steps aside for Sungmin to swipe his card instead, and the lock flashes a green light, clicking.
“I normally don’t lose my room cards,” Kyuhyun tells him, feeling the need to let Sungmin know.
“If you say so.”
Feeling sleepy (and also, possibly groggy from the alcohol), Kyuhyun nearly trips over Sungmin as the both of them try to fit through the hallway together, shoulder to shoulder. “Sorry,” Kyuhyun mutters, continuing to force himself through.
“I really hope you’re not drunk,” Sungmin says, amusement laced in his voice. “I would be really disappointed if you were drunk.”
“Not drunk,” Kyuhyun affirms, although he might as well be, because he looks at Sungmin, and suddenly his mouth is very inviting. “I’m tipsy at best?”
Said mouth curves into a small bout of laughter. “Okay. I might be a little tipsy myself. If you were such a lightweight, I would recommend you to stop drinking wine for a hobby.”
“Mm,” Kyuhyun hums, trying to tear his eyes away from Sungmin’s mouth. It doesn’t work. “I should wash up and sleep.”
“Yeah, you should.” But neither of them move.
You are really attractive, Kyuhyun mentally tells Sungmin. And I kind of hate you for it, because you don’t seem to have a single flaw. There’s tension between them, but different from the tension they had before-this time, it’s not sparked out of dislike for each other-it’s hot, electrifying-Kyuhyun thinks it has to do with the alcohol, but he really isn’t that drunk, so-
Sungmin’s lips part just slightly as he breathes, and Kyuhyun wrenches himself away from him and bolts into the bathroom.
The water is cold as he splashes it on his face. He gasps, feeling a little bit of reality return to him. That was way too close for comfort.
(Except he wanted to be even closer. He wanted there to be no space between them at all.)
Kyuhyun showers before exiting the bathroom, wearing only a bathrobe because he wasn’t in the right state of mind to grab some clothes before he escaped from the sexual tension. Sungmin is on the couch, watching some television-he looks up when Kyuhyun comes out, eyes intense. Kyuhyun swallows, looking away. “Do you want the bed tonight?”
There’s a moment before Sungmin answers. “It’s fine. You keep it.”
After their bonding time today, Kyuhyun would’ve insisted, but the room is stifling-he can hardly breathe.
He falls asleep, trying not to think about what it would feel like to have Sungmin’s mouth pressed against his own.
-
The last time Kyuhyun had a boyfriend (an actual boyfriend, and not a guy he either picked up in a bar or someone he had a fling with for a week or two) was about two years ago, right before he joined the company that he’s working for right now.
His name was Ryeowook-he was a really great guy and was able to cook just about anything that Kyuhyun wanted to eat. Kyuhyun was pretty overweight back then, but for good reason, he supposes-his relationship with Ryeowook was always good, he never got bored, and they had some pretty great sex.
And then one day, Ryeowook sat him down, and somehow, things just…ended. Ryeowook had told Kyuhyun that he didn’t have anything against him, per se, but it was just that their relationship kind of deteriorated. That somehow, they got comfortable, and at the same time, things also got boring. It was kind of a huge blow to Kyuhyun’s ego, and although he and Ryeowook parted on good terms, it still hurt, because they were together for almost a year, and-maybe Kyuhyun really did get comfortable. He was used to Ryeowook always being there-Ryeowook’s smile, Ryeowook’s cologne, Ryeowook’s cooking after a long day-Ryeowook himself wasn’t that extraordinary of a person, but the things he did, the presence that he made-Kyuhyun missed that.
So after Ryeowook, Kyuhyun wasn’t entirely keen on entering another serious relationship, so from then on, it was just the occasional one night stand here and there, when he actually agreed to go to the club with Heechul and Donghae. He’s been fine until now. He got over Ryeowook a long time ago and being alone no longer hurts, and he’d like to keep things this way. He doesn’t particularly want to hurt again-and he doesn’t want to be told that he’s boring again.
Memories of his relationship with Ryeowook spin in endless circles in Kyuhyun’s mind the next day as he shoves room service food into his mouth and searches for links of the latest episode of the drama he’s watching. It’s a little past noon and he’s still in his pajamas and the room is quiet; he’s eating katsudon, and he remembers that one time Ryeowook tried to make it for him. (It didn’t come out half bad, either.)
Kyuhyun kind of misses the feeling of being able to hold someone’s hand, or rolling over in the middle of the night and bumping into another warm body.
He blames Sungmin for these thoughts-he hasn’t lived within close proximity of another person ever since Ryeowook, so this kind of throws him off balance. Sharing a bathroom with someone, sharing sleeping space with someone-it makes uncomfortable thoughts rush to his mind, and Kyuhyun doesn’t like it one bit.
It isn’t long after he finishes his lunch that Sungmin returns from his lunch with his client, his crisp suit and red tie making him look much more professional than his outfit the day before. “How’d it go?”
Sungmin doesn’t exactly look excited to discuss it. “Whatever.”
“Huh. I take it went great.”
“If by great you mean nowhere, then yeah, that sounds about right.” Sungmin loosens his tie and shrugs off his suit. “I’m giving him one more meeting before I give him up. He’s not worth all this effort-we have other clients that bring in just as much, if not more money.” He looks at Kyuhyun, who’s in the middle of his bundle of blankets. “Have you been in bed all day?”
He shrugs. “I don’t have work until tonight, so why not?”
Sungmin shakes his head. “That’s a little disgusting.”
As some sort of self defense, Kyuhyun retreats a little into his fort of blankets. “Well, your…face is disgusting.”
Sungmin doesn’t even dignify him with a response. “I’m going to go out and do a little souvenir shopping, do you want to come?”
“Uh, sure, I guess.” Kyuhyun doesn’t have anyone to buy souvenirs for, but Sungmin looks like he’s going to judge him very hard if he doesn’t get out of bed right this instant. So in ten minutes, he’s changed and washed up, and they’re out the door.
The Christmas decorations are still in the streets, the streets white with snow. There is still that family sort of feeling in the air-one that reminds Kyuhyun of toasty fireplaces and pretty lights lining the rooftops, of exchanging gifts and warm smiles and-he stops. When was the last time he actually spent Christmas with his family? Or bought gifts for his parents and his sister? Holiday spirit is a beautiful thing, but Kyuhyun has never been part of it.
“Did you spend Christmas with your family?” he ventures, asking Sungmin.
“Hm? Yeah, I was lucky enough to have the day off.”
“Do you have any siblings?”
“Just a little brother. How about you?”
They talk about their family and various topics as Sungmin browses for souvenirs until it nears five in the afternoon, and Kyuhyun has to return to the hotel to change and go out for his business dinner. He and Sungmin part ways and he heads back, a bounce in his steps and a tune on his lips.
Is it normal to enjoy the company of one of the Devil’s Spawn? he texts Heechul, hoping the older man won’t make fun of him for it.
By company, do u mean the way he moves in bed??
…No. By company, I mean company.
Tch, ur boring
Kyuhyun frowns at his phone, and shoves it back in his pocket. He doesn’t know why he tries.
-
“But Mr. Kim,” he tries again, once again pushing his proposal across the table. “What I’m saying is that you’ll have several benefits that VIP clients already have-”
“And what I’m saying,” Mr. Kim (Kyuhyun’s client) interrupts, “is that what can you offer me that other companies can’t? VIP benefits? I can get those anywhere, why would I come to you guys? Do you think you’re that important? There are several companies that are bigger and more expanded than you!”
It’s been two hours, and Kyuhyun’s almost at his last straw. “Mr. Kim,” he says, trying his best to sound pleasant. “We are offering you our best-monthly newsletters, discounts, better deals, the ability to jump the line-you can’t get that anywhere else without being a client for several years already, at least. And we are offering you this right off the bat.”
Mr. Kim crosses his arms, leaning back in his seat. “I still don’t think that’s quite good enough.”
Well then, fuck you, Kyuhyun wants to spit out. We have clients who offer just as much as you for less all the time.
“I’ll give you two more days,” Mr. Kim continues. “If you don’t have something for me by then, the deal is off.”
Kyuhyun bites his tongue to restrain himself from saying anything foul. “Alright, then. Thank you for your time tonight, Mr. Kim.”
When he returns to the hotel, Sungmin’s still out, so he grabs the half finished bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and pours himself a glass. The wine he had back at the restaurant was heavy on his tongue, unable to be appreciated when he had an obnoxious client sitting across from him.
He’s still drinking when Sungmin returns, just browsing online game catalogues and ignoring Heechul’s instant messages. “How was it?” Sungmin asks, and Kyuhyun just tells him to grab a wine glass if he wants to drink. Sungmin frowns. “Looks like neither of us are getting any luck. Maybe Japan’s cursed or something?”
“Maybe.” Kyuhyun scowls, but the alcohol thrumming in his veins soothes his irritation a little. “He’s just an ass. It doesn’t matter.”
Sungmin crawls onto the bed beside Kyuhyun, wine glass in hand. “What are you doing?”
“Just seeing what game I should buy next. I heard that Skyrim’s pretty good.”
“Do you game often?”
“Yeah-pretty sure I could be a professional StarCraft player if I wanted to be.”
Sungmin lets out a low whistle. “That’s pretty impressive. I’ve never even looked into StarCraft before.”
Kyuhyun shrugs. “I could teach you, if you want. It’s not really that hard once you get the hang of it. Are you good at strategizing?”
“I’d like to think so?”
“Okay.” Kyuhyun takes a final sip of his wine before placing his glass on the bedside table, opening StarCraft. “I’ll teach you how to play it.”
-
A few hours later, and Kyuhyun faces a bigger problem than the fact that Sungmin learns StarCraft faster than he ever did. The fact that Sungmin is so quick with it makes him incredibly…attractive. Kyuhyun mentally curses, draining the rest of his wine in one go as Sungmin cracks his shoulders after another successful round.
The thing is, Kyuhyun has never had a gaming buddy. Heechul was alright at it but didn’t find too much interest in it, Donghae prefers to be outside doing “real” things, and Ryeowook-well, Kyuhyun never really wanted to impose that on Ryeowook. He’s always gamed alone, so the fact that Sungmin’s actually quite absorbed in shooting the Zerg down makes him seem really…really hot.
“You’re really good for a beginner,” he encourages Sungmin. “Are you sure you haven’t played before?”
Sungmin laughs distractedly. “Please. With my family background and constant focus on school and extracurricular activities, I don’t think I had much time for things like this.”
Kyuhyun shakes his head. “You must’ve had such a deprived childhood.”
“I don’t really see it that way, but thanks for worrying.” It’s quite for a few more minutes, until Sungmin loses the current round. He cracks his wrists and pushes the laptop away from him. “I think I’m done for the night.” Kyuhyun glances at the clock-it’s just past one in the morning; barely even scraping the tip of the iceberg of potential gaming hours of the night.
“Already?” he asks jokingly, taking his laptop back.
“Early sleeper, early riser,” Sungmin replies easily. “It’s a healthy lifestyle. You should try it sometime.”
Kyuhyun feigns disgust. “No thanks.” He starts a new round of StarCraft. “Do you want me to turn of the lights? I can game in the dark just fine.”
It’s a moment before Sungmin answers. “I think I’ll watch you for a little while before sleeping? I want to see a professional at work.”
He tries to hide the fact that he’s glowing with pride, and games with his regular flying colors. Sungmin’s leaning against him to get a better look and Kyuhyun does his best to ignore the close proximity-it’s just the same as last night, except this time, he can’t even be considered tipsy enough to make it an excuse for him to like it.
Just face it, the Heechul of his conscience tells him. You like him.
No, he mentally snaps back. I just think he’s hot.
Conscience!Heechul cackles. That’s even better.
“What are you doing with your base?” Sungmin suddenly asks. “How are you protecting it?”
Kyuhyun tries to explain, when he’s suddenly ambushed. He swears under his breath and pauses the game, turning to the other man. “I’m-” He stops before he even has a chance to say anything, though, because he hasn’t registered how close Sungmin is until now-and he realizes how cliché, how stupidly predictable this is, how intentional it might be-is Sungmin doing this intentionally? Is he trying to make Kyuhyun forget how to breathe?
Sungmin raises his eyebrows in question. “Hm?” If Kyuhyun tried, he’s sure he could count his eyelashes. He could see the warm brown in Sungmin’s irises. He could-
Don’t, he warns himself. Devil’s Spawn.
Who the fuck cares? Conscience!Heechul screeches.
Sungmin stares at him, as if waiting for something. Kyuhyun wants to think he’s just waiting for his explanation as to how he’s protecting his base. He’s kind of thinking that’s not the case, though.
Sungmin tenses up when their mouths meet as though he was expecting Kyuhyun to kiss him, and Kyuhyun presses against him earnestly, lips moving clumsily, and Sungmin leans back almost to the point where he falls onto his back. Sungmin’s fingers graze Kyuhyun’s check, threading through his hair and then tugging tightly at the locks.
God, Sungmin’s hot. Sungmin’s so hot. Kyuhyun parts his lips wider, tongue insistent, and Sungmin gasps lightly against his mouth, finally falling backwards and pulling Kyuhyun down with him, chest against chest. Kyuhyun’s laptop tumbles somewhere on the bed and he reaches to grip Sungmin’s waist, trying to align their waists because God this is so hot, all clacking teeth and hot breaths against skin, he shouldn’t feel this attracted to a person even if he does play StarCraft well, shouldn’t feel like his skin’s on fire-
Sungmin rolls his hips against Kyuhyun’s, and they break away from each other, simultaneously gasping. This is heat like he hasn’t felt in a long time-
Shit, what is he doing?
Kyuhyun scrabbles to grab hold of himself, getting off of Sungmin, swallowing thickly. Sungmin looks up at him, confused, and Kyuhyun shakes his head. “Sorry,” he says. “I shouldn’t-that was stupid of me-” He grabs his laptop and sets it straight, shutting it and placing it on the bedside table, nearly knocking over his empty wine glass in the process. “I shouldn’t have done that-sorry.”
Sungmin looks absolutely befuddled as he sits up, brow furrowed in confusion. “It’s okay,” he says slowly. “But I’m okay with it? I was kind of hoping for that to happen?”
“I shouldn’t have done that,” Kyuhyun repeats, scrambling to get off the bed and into the bathroom. “That was inappropriate-” And he slams the bathroom door behind him, not giving Sungmin a chance to talk.
His breathing is still heavy when he splashes cold water on his face, trying to will the heat away. That was definitely out of line-he hasn’t known Sungmin for even a week and he already made a move-it’s not like Sungmin is some faceless stranger in a club-he’s a respectable man, one whose annual income is probably higher than Kyuhyun’s, and Kyuhyun has to see him regularly at annual functions. Kyuhyun wouldn’t be able to avoid him even if he wanted to if anything ever happened between them-like really, really hot sex.
(But the truth is, Kyuhyun would love to have hot sex with Sungmin. He would love to have hot, filthy sex, sex that has them sore for days afterwards.)
He stands still, motionless, hands pressed on the cold counter for several more minutes until his heartbeat finally returns to normal. When he finally feels like he’s able to handle any potential awkwardness that could spark once he sees leaves the bathroom, he does just that.
It turns out he doesn’t have to deal with any awkwardness, because Sungmin is already sleeping on the couch. Kyuhyun breathes a small sigh of relief and quickly changes into his pajamas and slips into bed, trying not to remember the press of their bodies that happened there not too long ago.
He sends a small prayer up above, hoping that he didn’t fuck things up too bad, and goes to sleep.
-
Cho Kyuhyun (09:12:37): How do you deal with the morning after?
Heedictator (09:13:02): did you guys fuck?
Heedictator (09:13:05): YOU GUYS TOTALLY FUCKED DIDN’T YOU
Cho Kyuhyun (09:13:15): No, but some…things happened.
Heedictator (09:13:29): omg you totally chickened out didn’t you, you wuss
Heedictator (09:13:33): this is why your life sucks
Cho Kyuhyun (09:13:37): I would appreciate it if you gave me some actual advice? I’m sure you’ve encountered your fair share of morning afters.
Heedictator (09:13:45): lol k dude idek why you’re freaking out about this, if you didn’t have sex then there’s nothing to be awkward about
Heedictator (09:13:51): and idk why you haven’t had sex yet anyway tbh
Kyuhyun contemplates if he should continue attempting to extract useful advice from Heechul, but finally decides that it’s not worth the effort. He exits the conversation, sighing.
Earlier that morning, when Sungmin’s alarm went off at eight-thirty sharp, Kyuhyun pretended to sleep right through it. In reality, he was actually listening to the sounds of Sungmin getting ready-the running water, the light footsteps, the soft rustle of clothes. Last night was still too clearly etched in his memory-and he’s not as afraid of having to deal with the consequences as he’s afraid of the fact that he wants it to happen again.
After breakfast, he gets changed. He doesn’t have a lot to do, but he’ll feel suffocated if he stays in the hotel all day, so he has his laptop in his bag with him, and plans to find an internet café somewhere.
He doesn’t know how he’s going to face Sungmin when he sees him tonight-he’s hoping that they’ll just pretend like it never happened, but Kyuhyun has had bad experiences with dealing with people he’s done regrettable things with. He ends up being even more awkward than he normally is and says stupid things, fumbles with his hands-it’s bad.
He’s just exited the hotel, the winter air sweeping around him, when he sees a familiar figure rounding the corner towards him. It’s Sungmin-in a moment of panic, Kyuhyun spins around on his heels and tries to go in the opposite direction, but bumps into someone-the poor old woman stumbles and falls right over, giving a startled yelp. Kyuhyun’s heart stops for a moment and he kneels down to help her up, apologizing profusely in lilted Japanese, feeling his ears turn red from embarrassment.
The old woman smiles and pats Kyuhyun’s arm, saying something along the lines of it’s alright and be careful, and Kyuhyun breathes a sigh of relief-but then he hears Sungmin’s voice behind him, and his blood runs cold.
“Are you alright, Kyuhyun?”
He spins around and tries to form a natural expression. “Uh-yeah. Yeah, I am.”
Sungmin raises his eyebrows. “Where are you heading to?”
“Uh.” Kyuhyun hesitates. “An internet café.”
Sungmin blinks. “Huh.”
Forget about the kiss last night. Sungmin’s not going to want to kiss Kyuhyun again after realizing how big of nerd he really is. “I thought staying in the hotel would be kind of suffocating, so…”
After a moment, Sungmin shakes his head. “Okay, how about this. I found an aquarium down the street and I was just coming back to ask if you wanted to go to it with me.”
Kyuhyun is left completely speechless to the point where Sungmin actually has to wave a hand in front of his face. He didn’t think-well, that Sungmin would want anything to do him after he so blatantly pushed him away the night before. And aquariums-buildings dedicated to fish? Really? “Uh…sure, I guess.”
They take a taxi to the aquarium and grab a brochure from the front desk. “There’s an orca show at two-do you want to see that?”
“Okay,” Kyuhyun agrees, not even remembering what orcas are until after a moment of thought. It’s not even half past one yet, so they check out the other fish first-jellyfish and anemones and the like. Kyuhyun can’t tell half of them apart.
Sungmin’s in the middle of inspecting some starfish when Kyuhyun hears a familiar voice-one that has brought him to the end of his nerves a total count of twice before. He scans the area once and leans over to Sungmin, saying in a low voice, “I found my client. It looks like he’s discussing some deal about this aquarium.”
“Really?” Sungmin murmurs, not even paying attention. “Kyuhyun, we can touch the stuff in this tank.”
“What do you think he’s discussing?” Kyuhyun asks, finding more interest in his annoying client than he is in immobile creatures inside a tank. “Do you think he’s going to buy this place?”
“Kyuhyun, feel this anemone! Its tentacles stick to you.”
Not quite sure what to do if Sungmin’s ignoring him, he rolls up his sleeve and sticks his hand in the tank. The water is freezing cold, and he cautiously pokes the same anemone that Sungmin is touching-its tentacles cling to Kyuhyun’s skin, and he wonders if it’s stinging him-but he wouldn’t know, because the water is too cold for him to tell.
“I really like that prospect,” Kyuhyun hears Mr. Kim say. “And how many much authority would I have over the staff?”
Sungmin perks up at Mr. Kim’s voice, and withdraws his hand from the tank, turning around. “Kyuhyun-by your client, do you mean that guy over there? With the receding hairline?”
“Yeah. Why?”
Sungmin grabs a napkin and wipes his hand dry. Kyuhyun follows suit. “Uh…because that’s my client too.”
Kyuhyun looks at Mr. Kim, and then at Sungmin. It’s one thing for Mr. Kim to be discussing a deal with the CEO of an aquarium, but it’s another thing to be discussing deals with both Kyuhyun and Sungmin. They may be from different companies, but they’re also in the same field-to be pulling both companies until he gets the best deal-
“What,” Kyuhyun says, “an ass.”
Sungmin tosses his napkin out. “I’m going to be terminating any hope of a contract with him the next time I see him.”
“Me too.”
They look at each other once and suddenly grin. Kyuhyun grabs Sungmin’s arm and tugs him out of the room before Mr. Kim can spot him, through the arch filled with jellyfish, and into a huge aquarium-one that has a tunnel built in it for people to walk through.
There’s no one in the tunnel except for them and suddenly there’s silence-the way there’s silence when Kyuhyun submerges himself in a bath. It’s quiet except for their breathing, the entire place illuminated a deep blue, large shadows moving slowly across the floor as sharks and manta rays swim over them. Kyuhyun looks at Sungmin once and bursts into laughter at how ridiculous this is-coming to Japan, being stuck sharing a room with him, hating the situation, hating everything, hating Mr. Kim-and then realizing that Mr. Kim had been two timing their companies. It was all so funny, so preposterous-he doubles over laughing, and after a moment, Sungmin joins him-the tunnel echoes with their laughter as they clutch onto each other to keep from falling.
All of this-what’s the point of this anyway?
Kyuhyun’s shoulder presses against Sungmin’s temple as he catches his breath, arms slung casually over his shoulders.
“This is stupid,” he finally says, only hearing the distant waves of the ocean again. “I can’t believe things turned out this way.”
“Well.” Sungmin exhales, a smile in his voice. “Yeah.”
Their eyes meet, the quiet of the aquarium almost deafening as they realize just how close their faces are-but Sungmin only grins, the curve of his lips distinct as he kisses Kyuhyun, hard on the mouth. Kyuhyun only has time to gasp once before he stumbles backwards, limbs tangling with Sungmin’s until his back hits the glass of the tunnel. It’s all lips and no teeth or tongue but Sungmin has Kyuhyun’s face in his hands, just the slide of lips on lips and Kyuhyun can’t breathe, he can’t catch his breath and oh God this is so good-
“We probably shouldn’t be doing this,” he gasps between their kisses, although his words don’t exactly mirror his actions, considering his hands are gripping Sungmin’s waist, running up and down his back, anything he can reach-pressing their bodies so close together it’s almost stifling-
“I have no idea why,” Sungmin replies breathily, his mouth leaving Kyuhyun’s and nibbling along his jawline, until his tongue flicks the spot right underneath his ear. A heavy shudder runs through Kyuhyun, desire heady in his veins and okay this was definitely not how today was going to go, he was supposed to ignore Sungmin and spend the day in an internet café and eat cup noodles-but he supposes, as Sungmin’s mouth finds his again, this is okay too. Sungmin can be one of the Devil’s Spawn and Kyuhyun can still kiss him-that’s alright.
(Sungmin’s hand runs down Kyuhyun’s arm and his fingers linger at his wrist, and Kyuhyun wonders why it was never alright in the first place.)
-
The rest of the day is spent with no worries, and Kyuhyun has dinner with Sungmin in a fancy western restaurant after watching the orca show and checking out the other exhibits in the aquarium. They share a bottle of wine and talk about various topics, and just before dessert, Sungmin calls Mr. Kim and says that the discussion for their contract is off-that the company has deduced that his signature is not worth what they would have to give him in return. After a short minute, he hangs up, telling Kyuhyun that Mr. Kim doesn’t sound very fazed at all.
A few minutes later, Kyuhyun’s phone rings in his pocket. He fishes it out and picks up-“Hello?”
“Mr. Cho.” It’s Mr. Kim, not surprisingly. “I’ve reconsidered your offer, and I’ve decided that I’ll take you up on it-when would you like to meet so we can finalize the deal?”
Kyuhyun’s eyes meet Sungmin’s, feeling a child-like sort of giddiness bubble up in his stomach. “Actually, Mr. Kim, our company received a new offer just a few hours ago. The new client has offered a larger sum for less benefits and was entirely willing, so we’ve signed the contract with him. I was just about to contact you to let you know that we won’t be requiring your service anymore.”
From the other end of the line, Mr. Kim sputters, and Kyuhyun has to struggle to keep his snickers in. “But Mr. Cho-”
“Thank you for your time, Mr. Kim.” And without a moment’s hesitation, he hangs up.
“Do you think we’ll get in trouble for purposely terminating a potentially good contract?” Sungmin asks.
He shrugs. “He was the one two-timing us.”
There’s a moment of contemplative thought, before Sungmin leans forward against the table. “Y’know, for rival companies, we aren’t really rivals at all, are we? We just happened to go up against each other.”
“Wrong place, wrong time,” Kyuhyun agrees.
“Lucky that we were somehow locked together, huh?”
Kyuhyun’s not sure if it’s luck as much as it’s just brutal force, but he nods anyway. “One of my coworkers calls you guys the Devil’s Spawn.”
“Well,” Sungmin replies, a little miffed, “we call you guys the Destroyers of Happiness, so. I guess we’re even.”
Destroyers of Happiness. Kyuhyun actually kind of likes it. “I guess we are.”
They return to the hotel with the wine in their veins, a little giggly like teenage schoolboys, and there is no hesitation between them this time once the door closes-Sungmin presses Kyuhyun against the wall, fingers lacing together above his head. There are butterflies in his stomach, fluttering so much that he can’t breathe, and Sungmin takes them by the hand into the bathroom and starts the shower. Kyuhyun doesn’t have time to be confused or embarrassed because Sungmin’s mouth is already on him again, lips against skin, teeth nipping at his neck and hands tugging insistently at Kyuhyun’s clothes.
Kyuhyun can probably count a few times that he’s had sex in the shower before, but he can’t quite be sure if he’s ever had it as slow and as electrifying as he does with Sungmin. Sungmin is warm and enveloping and sensual, all soft curves but still sturdy and reliable-it’s Kyuhyun’s moans that echo within the tiles of the bathroom, Kyuhyun who comes first with a long shudder, face pressed against Sungmin’s neck.
“You okay?” Sungmin asks afterwards, breathless, breathing against Kyuhyun’s wet hair and the hot water still spraying them. Kyuhyun all but purrs, fingers tracing circles against the skin of Sungmin’s waist. Sungmin laughs softly. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
-
“This is the millionth time you’ve ditched us since you came back,” Donghae whines, throwing an eraser at Kyuhyun’s face. It hits him square in the notes, and Kyuhyun glares, throwing it back (and missing).
“I haven’t even been back for a week yet, so this really can’t be the millionth time,” he deadpans, grabbing his jacket and circling his scarf around his neck. Today’s Friday-he returned to Korea on Sunday, which was Sungmin’s birthday-except he didn’t actually know that it was Sungmin’s birthday until afterwards, so since today’s Friday, they’re celebrating with dinner. He still hasn’t told Heechul or Donghae about him because he actually wants to see Sungmin seriously, and he’s the first since Ryeowook, so…he really isn’t up for teasing, because Heechul and Donghae will definitely tease.
“Do you hate us now?” Donghae asks. Kyuhyun pushes his chair in. “What happened in Japan? Kyuhyun? Heechul-hyung, he’s ignoring me!”
“Just let him be,” Heechul says from behind his computer. He’s probably bidding on something on eBay-it’s what he always does, since he has so much free time after shoving his work onto his colleagues. Kyuhyun rolls his eyes and grabs his briefcase, leaving the office despite Donghae’s wails.
He rides the elevator down to the ground floor with a nervous heart, because he got Sungmin a gift yesterday (a nice watch that put a dent in his wallet) and isn’t sure if he’ll like it. He hasn’t known Sungmin for long so he can’t determine what’ll make him happy the most, but-Kyuhyun wants to try. Over time, he’ll know-Sungmin’s gift for his birthday next year will be better. And the year after that. And the year after that one, too.
Sungmin’s already in the parking lot, waiting for him. He’s wearing a suit, most likely just having got off work too, and the smile blossoms on Kyuhyun’s face automatically as he makes his way towards the other man. “Hey.”
Sungmin’s smile reaches his eyes. “Hey.”
Kyuhyun motions towards his car. “You ready to go?”
From a little ways away, he hears a voice shriek. “See? I told you he was with the Devil’s Spawn! I told you!” It doesn’t help that Kyuhyun recognizes that voice to belong to Heechul. He cringes. Heechul had been suspecting him all week, probably. “You owe me money! DONGHAE, DON’T RUN FROM ME. I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE.”
Sungmin shoots Kyuhyun a questioning look. “Your friends?”
“I wish they weren’t,” he replies, making a face. Sungmin laughs and leans forward, catching his lips in a quick kiss. Kyuhyun flushes.
“I’d like to meet them one day.”
“Trust me,” he says with a straight face. “You don’t.”
“I do!” Sungmin insists. Kyuhyun just shakes his head and tells him to get in the car.
(There’s a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon waiting in the backseat.)
This entry was originally posted at http://sujuexchange.dreamwidth.org/6152.html?mode=reply. Please comment there using OpenID (i.e., your LJ account's URL).
Author: xdespondence
Recipient: mysapphiresky
Characters/Pairings: Kyuhyun/Sungmin
Rating: R
Genre(s): Romance
Warnings: N/A
Author's Note: I had several arguments with this fic and nearly didn’t make the deadline, but I hope it came out alright!
Kyuhyun finds himself in an unwanted predicament. A very big, unwanted predicament.
He’s in the lobby of a hotel, frustrated to the point where his neck his heating up and he needs to take off his jacket. His broken Japanese is hardly enough for himself to be understood, and although the man standing beside him is just a little bit better at communicating, it seems like their meaning still isn’t conveyed.
He’s currently in the lobby of a five star hotel in Japan with Lee Sungmin, both of them trying their best to tell the receptionist that they were given the same hotel room when they really shouldn’t have. When they don’t wish to share a room. When they kind of dislike each other, actually.
The receptionist stares blankly at them, while continuing to apologize profusely in Japanese.
“Fuck this.” Kyuhyun loosens his tie a little-it’s becoming difficult to breathe. “I’ll just find another hotel in the city. You keep the room.”
“Hotels at this time of year are always completely booked. Trust me, I know-I’ve vacationed here during Christmas in the last few years.”
Then why is your Japanese still shit? Kyuhyun wants to snap. Instead, he says, “Okay. Then what?”
“Then…” Sungmin sighs. “I guess we’ll share the room?”
He half wants to start shouting at the receptionist again, but he figures it’d be futile. “Fine,” he huffs, turning on his heel and stalking towards the elevators, suitcase in tow. Sungmin follows suit.
Kyuhyun already disliked having to work over the holidays when he could be enjoying himself at home with ramyun and his laptop, but having to share a room with Lee Sungmin just made things ten times worse. Kyuhyun doesn’t see Sungmin often, but the fact that they work at rival companies sort of puts an edge on everything-not to mention that Sungmin got just as many promotions as Kyuhyun in a shorter amount of time.
When he and Sungmin enter their room, they stand awkwardly for a moment, because both of them realize that there’s only one bed.
“I’ll take the couch,” the other man says, bringing his luggage to said couch. “You have the bed.”
Out of courtesy, Kyuhyun should probably refuse it at least once, but instead, he just agrees. He doesn’t want to sleep on the couch, and he doesn’t really care if Sungmin has to be the one with a sore neck for a while.
It’s going to be a long week.
-
Kyuhyun dislikes Sungmin partially on principle (you can’t not dislike people who work for rival companies), but also partially because Sungmin is pretty close to flawless. Kyuhyun has seen him (and talked with him) on several occasions during big events when several companies are gathered together, or over the phone when trying to steal clients, and he’s realized that the only imperfection that the other man has is that he has none. It’s always been a little damaging to Kyuhyun’s ego.
That evening, he goes out for dinner with his client, his tie straight, suit buttoned up and briefcase in hand. If he can get this deal in one sitting, then he won’t have to be here for a week, and he can go home.
His client is a Korean man who’s been living in Japan for a few years, so Kyuhyun communicates easily with him. Under the dim lighting of the restaurant, they discuss the several different proposals that Kyuhyun has prepared, but by the end of the evening, they’ve gotten nowhere. Kyuhyun has had clients like this one-they dangle their money in front of you and watch you try to grab it. Sometimes, they end up agreeing, but sometimes, they back out in the last minute because they never planned to take up the deal in the first place. They are Kyuhyun’s least favorite type of clients.
He and Sungmin don’t exchange words when he returns-he drops his briefcase on the bed, loosens his tie, and goes straight into the bathroom for a shower to relieve his tense muscles. He’s tired. He has to see his client again in three days.
He doesn’t sleep until late that night-long after Sungmin has fallen asleep, body rising and falling to deep breathing. That bastard doesn’t even snore. Kyuhyun glances at him once in a while through the darkness, the room only illuminated by his bedside lamp and laptop. The minutes tick on and he’s afraid Sungmin’s going to wake up suddenly to go to the bathroom or something, see him still up, and judge his sleeping habits, but it doesn’t happen once. Kyuhyun ends up sleeping at five in the morning.
He dreams of faint silhouettes and sharp edges but soft skin, and he’s not sure what it means.
-
An alarm is what pulls him out of his dreams-which is kind of weird, because he doesn’t even have an alarm set, but after the grogginess clears a little from his mind, he remembers that he’s not the only one sleeping in this room.
He rolls over, arms flopping onto the other side of the bed, to check the time on his phone. 8:30. Holy hell. If Sungmin woke up at this ungodly hour of the day because he felt like it and not because he has an appointment, Kyuhyun is going to strangle him later on once he’s had enough sleep.
“Ah, sorry, did I wake you?” Sungmin apologizes, but he doesn’t even sound like he cares.
Kyuhyun grunts. “Whatever. I’ll fall back asleep, don’t worry.” He drifts in and out of sleep, always being pulled back by Sungmin’s rustling about in the room, the water running, the ping of a laptop turning on. At one point, he cracked his eyes open and saw the wide expanse of Sungmin’s back, smooth skin and broad shoulders and whoa okay, he could have lived without that image being burned into his retinas.
(It’s a very nice back, though, he grudgingly admits. He’s flawless, his brain tells him. Shut up, he snaps back.)
He sleeps again until noon, and when he wakes up, Sungmin isn’t around. He lazily gets out of bed and dresses himself, before checking his phone. There’s a missed call from Heechul, one of his colleagues. (Colleague-ish, considering Heechul forces other people to do more than half of his work.)
“Did you call me?”
“Oh hey, Kyuhyun. I was just wondering if you could pick up some of those cracker snacks for me on your way back? I haven’t had those in a while.”
Kyuhyun blinks. “There are a million types of cracker snacks in Japan, hyung. You’re going to have to be more specific.”
“Y’know, the ones that are wasabi flavored! I used to eat them all the time.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t pay attention to you every waking moment of the day.”
From the other end of the line, Heechul sighs. “You suck. This is why I miss Hankyung.”
“You’re probably the reason why Hankyung quit.”
There’s a moment of hurt silence. Serves you right, Kyuhyun thinks. “So,” Heechul says abruptly, changing the subject. “Did you get the deal done?”
“Nope. Trying again in a few days.”
“Hm. I heard that the Devil’s Spawn sent someone to Japan too-have you heard of anything?”
The Devil’s Spawn is Heechul’s nickname for their rival company. Kyuhyun thinks it’s kind of fitting, with how quickly they’re expanding. “Yeah, they sent Lee Sungmin.”
“Really? How do you know?”
“Some stupid mixup at the hotel. I’m rooming with him right now.”
The silence is brief, before Heechul begins to shriek in hysterical laughter on the other end of the line. Kyuhyun holds his phone a few inches away from his ear. “Did you jump him yet?” Heechul screams. Kyuhyun winces.
“No? Why would I?”
“Dude, have you seen that ass?”
No, but I’ve seen his back. “Just because you’re gay, doesn’t mean we all are, hyung.”
“Liar.”
Kyuhyun’s just a little miffed. “I’m not lying.”
“We’ll see if that still stands when you can’t resist that ass.”
“I’m hanging up now,” he says, and does just that. He’s always going to regret that drunk escapade he had with Heechul last year. Sighing, Kyuhyun gets out of bed and gets ready. He has nothing to do until his next meeting with his client, so he might as well go around and do some sightseeing.
And he does just that-in the afternoon, he finds a place that sells some nice wine, and he buys himself a bottle. He’ll enjoy himself tonight. Screw clients. Screw work. Screw Sungmin-he’s in Japan, he loves this place, and he loves wine. Kyuhyun does what he wants.
That evening, he settles down in bed with a glass of wine on the bedside table beside him. He’s on his laptop and surfing the internet for a good new movie to watch when the lock of the door clicks open and Sungmin enters the room, dressed in casual clothes and a bag slung over his shoulder. Kyuhyun takes care to stare right at his laptop to avoid any awkwardness-since it’s pretty awkward that he’s in his pajamas, in bed, on his laptop, drinking wine. He has to admit that much.
No words are exchanged as Sungmin shrugs his jacket off and puts his bag away to the side. And then: “Is that Cabernet Sauvignon?”
Kyuhyun glances at the bottle of wine beside his glass-the label isn’t even facing Sungmin. “Yeah. Why?”
“Oh. I was just wondering.” Sungmin nods in acknowledgement. “You have good taste.”
“…Thanks.” Kyuhyun returns to his laptop. The fact that Sungmin recognized what wine it was without even seeing the label-that means that Sungmin’s good with wine. Kyuhyun doesn’t know anyone who’s good with wine-most of his friends just go for hard liquor-whatever gets them drunk the fastest.
He glances over at Sungmin, who’s rearranging some things in his suitcase to fit whatever it is that he brought back with him today. “Would you like a glass?”
The other man looks up at him. “Pardon?”
“Erm.” Kyuhyun shifts uncomfortably on the bed. “A glass. Of Cabernet Sauvignon. Would you like one?”
Sungmin’s eyes light up immediately, and it throws Kyuhyun off. “Can I?”
“Y-Yeah. Of course.” He slides out of bed to grab another glass, suddenly embarrassed at his rubber ducky pajama bottoms.
He hands Sungmin the wine, who swirls it and breathes it in with eyes closed, before exhaling slowly. Kyuhyun swallows. He turns away just before Sungmin’s lips touch the rim of the glass, because he knows that if his eyes linger for just a moment longer, he probably won’t be able to turn away. Sungmin has…nice lips. They’re just as nice as his back.
(Heechul’s words from earlier today echo in his mind, and he mentally punches himself.)
“I haven’t been able to enjoy a good glass of wine in a while,” Sungmin says from behind Kyuhyun. “Thank you.” The usual edge in his voice is gone and it almost sounds foreign-Kyuhyun has never heard Sungmin speak without his usual steeliness.
“It’s no problem. I wouldn’t have been able to finish the entire bottle anyway.”
Sungmin leaves his glass on the table beside the television and slips into the bathroom. The water begins to run and Kyuhyun gets back into bed, deciding to just continue watching his drama tonight.
He nearly has a heart attack when Sungmin comes back out, because for one, he is only wearing a bathrobe. And two, his hair is still damp. Sungmin’s bare feet quietly pad across the room as he picks up his glass of wine and takes a sip of it, the glass pressing delicately against his bottom lip. Kyuhyun swallows.
No. Devil’s Spawn, remember? He is from the Devil’s Spawn.
A beep from his laptop startles him out of his reverie.
Heedictator (23:42:11): did you jump him yet
He switches windows and begins to play his drama. Doing a very bad job of ignoring Sungmin, who is practically naked on the other side of the room, on his own laptop as he’s enjoying his wine.
Heedictator (23:45:24): kyuhyun don’t ignore me
Heedictator (23:45:30): if you don’t respond i’m assuming you’re fucking him right now
Heedictator (23:45:33): wait i mean he’s fucking you right now
Heedictator (23:45:35): don’t think i forgot how much you like to bottom
Cho Kyuhyun (23:46:07): Go away.
Heedictator (23:46:18): dammit i was making bets with donghae >:(
Kyuhyun’s half tempted to type, He’s wearing nothing but a bathrobe and he’s constantly in my line of sight, what do I do? but catches himself last minute and exits the conversation. He will not be hooking up with Sungmin tonight. Besides, Sungmin isn’t even that attractive. He’s actually kind of fat.
Sungmin sits on the other side of the room in his bathrobe, drinking his wine, and glances at Kyuhyun out of the corner of his eye.
“I don’t hate you, you know,” he finally says, sighing a little. “So you can stop looking at me like you want to strangle me.”
“What-I don’t want to strangle you,” Kyuhyun sputters, because actually, just moments ago, he wasn’t imagining Sungmin’s neck in his hands-he was imagining other things, no thanks to Heechul.
“Uh-huh.” Sungmin doesn’t look convinced. “Look. We just happen to have different employers. I don’t have a vendetta against you or anything, so can we not constantly have this sort of tension between us whenever we’re in the same room together?”
Kyuhyun kind of wants to say no out of obligation, but he doesn’t want to spend the next week like this either. “Yeah, okay. Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Sungmin empties his glass and stands up, heading over to Kyuhyun and pouring himself another glass. “So what are you doing?”
“Just watching a drama.”
“Can I watch too?”
He stares incredulously at Sungmin. Put some clothes on first, he wants to say, but instead he just goes with, “Okay. Sure.”
The bed is actually big enough for two people, so Sungmin goes around it and places his wine on the other bedside table and climbs in beside Kyuhyun, giving Kyuhyun a great view of his chest from his angle. Wow, not cool, man. So not cool.
He receives a new instant message, and the window automatically pops up.
Heedictator (23:52:31): is he fucking you now?!?!
Oh my God. He exits out of the instant messaging program completely and switches the drama into fullscreen mode.
They watch the drama in silence, drinking their wine. At one point or another, Kyuhyun nods off-when he wakes up again, his laptop is gone from the bed and is sitting on the table, turned off. He’s still sitting against the headboard of the bed, but the covers are drawn around him-the room is dark, and in the faint moonlight from the window, he sees Sungmin’s sleeping form on the couch.
A little perturbed, Kyuhyun shifts so he’s actually lying down in bed, and sleeps again.
-
The alarm. That goddamn alarm.
Kyuhyun flops over, groaning into his pillow. Sungmin is already getting up, the shuffling of his things far too loud for Kyuhyun’s ears.
“You want to get some breakfast with me?” Although Sungmin’s speaking regularly, it sounds like screaming to Kyuhyun.
“What time is it?” His voice comes out raspy.
“8:30.”
He groans. “I should not be conscious right now.” But he drags himself up anyway, because he doesn’t want to seem like a bum to Sungmin. Sungmin is already perfect as it is-Kyuhyun doesn’t have to emphasize his own faults.
They have breakfast at a small western café down the street, the chilly morning air rattling their bones. Kyuhyun orders a cappuccino, while Sungmin just has regular coffee-black. Sungmin is like the typical businessman-even now, he’s wearing a clean-cut outfit of form-fitting jeans, white t-shirt, and a grey blazer overtop. Kyuhyun just threw on a hoodie earlier and pulled on some sweats.
They eat in silence, Kyuhyun feeling underdressed, sleepy, and grumpy.
“So, what made you decide to be in this field?”
He looks at Sungmin, who’s watching him, waiting for an answer. He shrugs. “Nothing, really. Both my parents and my sister are professors, and I didn’t want to just follow the footsteps of the family-so I chose this. It’s still a dignified career, so I didn’t get disowned.”
“So do you like your job?”
“It’s alright.”
“Is there anything else you’ve wanted to do?”
While this isn’t exactly classified information, Kyuhyun doesn’t particularly want to tell Sungmin about his life dreams. “No, not really. How about you?”
“I’ve…” The other man drinks his coffee thoughtfully. “I’ve always wanted to teach martial arts.”
Kyuhyun raises his eyebrows. “Really.”
“Yeah.” Sungmin shrugs. “I was at the top of my class when I was younger. I was almost at the same level as my teacher-if I wanted to, I could’ve gone a little bit further and gotten qualified to be a teacher myself.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Same reasons as you, maybe? My parents never outright opposed my thoughts, but I don’t think they expected me to do anything about the martial arts lessons they provided me. They always pushed me towards better-providing careers like this one. So I did what they wanted me to do.” Sungmin’s expression was impassive, indifferent to what he was telling Kyuhyun-like he has either long since accepted that this is what his life will be like, or he just doesn’t care anymore. It’s a little bit…sad?
Kyuhyun nods, and they fall into a brief silence. Then, a little unsure, he says, “When I was younger, I…wanted to be a singer.”
“Oh?” Sungmin’s interest is suddenly piqued. “Are you good?”
“I guess so.” Kyuhyun rubs the back of his neck in slight embarrassment. “Or so I’ve been told.” Actually, almost everyone from his company has told him as such-but no one but Heechul and Donghae actually know about his desire to be a singer, because they’re the only ones he’s been friends with long enough to know. Kyuhyun kind of got over it after a few years-it’s not like he can’t sing just because he’s not standing on stage.
“Mm.” Sungmin nods. “Do you want to go out for karaoke tonight?”
“What?”
“Karaoke. Do you want to?”
While Kyuhyun doesn’t mind going to karaoke (he actually enjoys it quite a bit), Sungmin is the last person he wants to go with. It’d just be awkward. Breakfast right now is awkward-how are they going to be comfortable enough to eat snacks, drink, and sing overplayed songs from the nineties?
“Probably not,” he cautions. “Don’t you have to work?”
“Not until tomorrow,” Sungmin answers, although most of his earlier excitement has already gone out. “I have a meeting at lunch, but no sooner.”
“Oh.” Kyuhyun shifts uncomfortably in his seat. That’s a bit awkward. “Well, uh…” Crap, he doesn’t have any other excuses, because his next meeting isn’t until tomorrow evening. “I guess…karaoke would be okay, then?”
Sometimes, he really wishes he accepted Heechul’s offer of socializing lessons back when they were younger.
-
If he wants to get through tonight without any awkward incidents-or without remember them, anyway-he’s going to need alcohol.
A few bottles of soju are sitting on the table, waiting to be opened, along with a few snacks that they brought with them. Sungmin is flipping through the catalogue of songs right now, and asks Kyuhyun, “What kind of music do you like to sing?”
“Ballads, usually. But I guess I sing anything if it’s a good song.”
“Mm. Oh! How about this one?” Sungmin holds the book out to him, pointing at one track. “This was one of my favorite Japanese songs as a kid.”
“Me too.”
The other man grins. “We kind of have more in common than we originally thought, don’t we?” And although Kyuhyun doesn’t really want to give in, doesn’t want to make friends with one of the Devil’s Spawn-it’s hard. His lips tilt into a small smile. In the dim light of the karaoke room, Sungmin looks a little charming. Just a little.
Kyuhyun sings the song like it’s nothing; he knows the lyrics backwards and forwards. He’s sung it in the shower, for a talent show, in front of friends-it’s become more of a stress reliever than anything. But all the same, once the microphone leaves his lips, Sungmin applauds like he just listened to Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto. A little sheepish, Kyuhyun puts the microphone down and sits down beside him, pouring himself a glass of soju. He’s going to need more of this than he originally thought.
“You’re really good, Kyuhyun! With a voice like that, you definitely would’ve smade it big!”
Kyuhyun laughs, the alcohol thrumming pleasantly in his veins. “Thanks. Let’s hear you sing now.”
Sungmin leans back in his seat. “I think I’ll sound like a dying cat compared to you. I wasn’t really taking you seriously when you said you wanted to be a singer, to be honest.”
“Mm.” Kyuhyun flips through the catalogue and chooses a random one. “Here, your turn.”
The music begins to play, and Sungmin looks at him incredulously. He just shrugs and tags another swig of soju. (It’s not quite as refined as wine, but it gets the job done.)
So Sungmin gets up and sings-and of course he’s not as good as Kyuhyun (of course), but he’s still good. There have been times when Kyuhyun went out singing with Heechul and wished he could’ve been anywhere else, so the fact that his ears don’t feel like they’re bleeding is already a pretty good sign.
About an hour later, he receives a text. From Heechul, but Kyuhyun isn’t surprised-Heechul is the only one who texts him, really. Him and Donghae. They like to bother him. R u fucking him now??
He rolls his eyes and slips his phone back into his pocket, looking up to see Sungmin holding a microphone out to him. “This one’s a duet,” the other man explains.
“Is it some stupid love song?”
“You mean to say that there are duets that aren’t stupid love songs?”
And Kyuhyun has to admit-it’s kind of fun. Sungmin certainly isn’t bad company, and…Kyuhyun almost enjoys himself. The alcohol’s probably helping him along a little, but he feels warm and full-a way he doesn’t usually feel.
It’s late when they finally return to the hotel, Kyuhyun searching his pockets and wallet for his room card. The seconds tick past and the embarrassment flushes his cheeks a deep pink as he checks and rechecks every place he could’ve placed the card. He couldn’t have lost it-he never loses room cards.
From behind him, Sungmin laughs quietly. “No worries, I have mine.” Kyuhyun steps aside for Sungmin to swipe his card instead, and the lock flashes a green light, clicking.
“I normally don’t lose my room cards,” Kyuhyun tells him, feeling the need to let Sungmin know.
“If you say so.”
Feeling sleepy (and also, possibly groggy from the alcohol), Kyuhyun nearly trips over Sungmin as the both of them try to fit through the hallway together, shoulder to shoulder. “Sorry,” Kyuhyun mutters, continuing to force himself through.
“I really hope you’re not drunk,” Sungmin says, amusement laced in his voice. “I would be really disappointed if you were drunk.”
“Not drunk,” Kyuhyun affirms, although he might as well be, because he looks at Sungmin, and suddenly his mouth is very inviting. “I’m tipsy at best?”
Said mouth curves into a small bout of laughter. “Okay. I might be a little tipsy myself. If you were such a lightweight, I would recommend you to stop drinking wine for a hobby.”
“Mm,” Kyuhyun hums, trying to tear his eyes away from Sungmin’s mouth. It doesn’t work. “I should wash up and sleep.”
“Yeah, you should.” But neither of them move.
You are really attractive, Kyuhyun mentally tells Sungmin. And I kind of hate you for it, because you don’t seem to have a single flaw. There’s tension between them, but different from the tension they had before-this time, it’s not sparked out of dislike for each other-it’s hot, electrifying-Kyuhyun thinks it has to do with the alcohol, but he really isn’t that drunk, so-
Sungmin’s lips part just slightly as he breathes, and Kyuhyun wrenches himself away from him and bolts into the bathroom.
The water is cold as he splashes it on his face. He gasps, feeling a little bit of reality return to him. That was way too close for comfort.
(Except he wanted to be even closer. He wanted there to be no space between them at all.)
Kyuhyun showers before exiting the bathroom, wearing only a bathrobe because he wasn’t in the right state of mind to grab some clothes before he escaped from the sexual tension. Sungmin is on the couch, watching some television-he looks up when Kyuhyun comes out, eyes intense. Kyuhyun swallows, looking away. “Do you want the bed tonight?”
There’s a moment before Sungmin answers. “It’s fine. You keep it.”
After their bonding time today, Kyuhyun would’ve insisted, but the room is stifling-he can hardly breathe.
He falls asleep, trying not to think about what it would feel like to have Sungmin’s mouth pressed against his own.
-
The last time Kyuhyun had a boyfriend (an actual boyfriend, and not a guy he either picked up in a bar or someone he had a fling with for a week or two) was about two years ago, right before he joined the company that he’s working for right now.
His name was Ryeowook-he was a really great guy and was able to cook just about anything that Kyuhyun wanted to eat. Kyuhyun was pretty overweight back then, but for good reason, he supposes-his relationship with Ryeowook was always good, he never got bored, and they had some pretty great sex.
And then one day, Ryeowook sat him down, and somehow, things just…ended. Ryeowook had told Kyuhyun that he didn’t have anything against him, per se, but it was just that their relationship kind of deteriorated. That somehow, they got comfortable, and at the same time, things also got boring. It was kind of a huge blow to Kyuhyun’s ego, and although he and Ryeowook parted on good terms, it still hurt, because they were together for almost a year, and-maybe Kyuhyun really did get comfortable. He was used to Ryeowook always being there-Ryeowook’s smile, Ryeowook’s cologne, Ryeowook’s cooking after a long day-Ryeowook himself wasn’t that extraordinary of a person, but the things he did, the presence that he made-Kyuhyun missed that.
So after Ryeowook, Kyuhyun wasn’t entirely keen on entering another serious relationship, so from then on, it was just the occasional one night stand here and there, when he actually agreed to go to the club with Heechul and Donghae. He’s been fine until now. He got over Ryeowook a long time ago and being alone no longer hurts, and he’d like to keep things this way. He doesn’t particularly want to hurt again-and he doesn’t want to be told that he’s boring again.
Memories of his relationship with Ryeowook spin in endless circles in Kyuhyun’s mind the next day as he shoves room service food into his mouth and searches for links of the latest episode of the drama he’s watching. It’s a little past noon and he’s still in his pajamas and the room is quiet; he’s eating katsudon, and he remembers that one time Ryeowook tried to make it for him. (It didn’t come out half bad, either.)
Kyuhyun kind of misses the feeling of being able to hold someone’s hand, or rolling over in the middle of the night and bumping into another warm body.
He blames Sungmin for these thoughts-he hasn’t lived within close proximity of another person ever since Ryeowook, so this kind of throws him off balance. Sharing a bathroom with someone, sharing sleeping space with someone-it makes uncomfortable thoughts rush to his mind, and Kyuhyun doesn’t like it one bit.
It isn’t long after he finishes his lunch that Sungmin returns from his lunch with his client, his crisp suit and red tie making him look much more professional than his outfit the day before. “How’d it go?”
Sungmin doesn’t exactly look excited to discuss it. “Whatever.”
“Huh. I take it went great.”
“If by great you mean nowhere, then yeah, that sounds about right.” Sungmin loosens his tie and shrugs off his suit. “I’m giving him one more meeting before I give him up. He’s not worth all this effort-we have other clients that bring in just as much, if not more money.” He looks at Kyuhyun, who’s in the middle of his bundle of blankets. “Have you been in bed all day?”
He shrugs. “I don’t have work until tonight, so why not?”
Sungmin shakes his head. “That’s a little disgusting.”
As some sort of self defense, Kyuhyun retreats a little into his fort of blankets. “Well, your…face is disgusting.”
Sungmin doesn’t even dignify him with a response. “I’m going to go out and do a little souvenir shopping, do you want to come?”
“Uh, sure, I guess.” Kyuhyun doesn’t have anyone to buy souvenirs for, but Sungmin looks like he’s going to judge him very hard if he doesn’t get out of bed right this instant. So in ten minutes, he’s changed and washed up, and they’re out the door.
The Christmas decorations are still in the streets, the streets white with snow. There is still that family sort of feeling in the air-one that reminds Kyuhyun of toasty fireplaces and pretty lights lining the rooftops, of exchanging gifts and warm smiles and-he stops. When was the last time he actually spent Christmas with his family? Or bought gifts for his parents and his sister? Holiday spirit is a beautiful thing, but Kyuhyun has never been part of it.
“Did you spend Christmas with your family?” he ventures, asking Sungmin.
“Hm? Yeah, I was lucky enough to have the day off.”
“Do you have any siblings?”
“Just a little brother. How about you?”
They talk about their family and various topics as Sungmin browses for souvenirs until it nears five in the afternoon, and Kyuhyun has to return to the hotel to change and go out for his business dinner. He and Sungmin part ways and he heads back, a bounce in his steps and a tune on his lips.
Is it normal to enjoy the company of one of the Devil’s Spawn? he texts Heechul, hoping the older man won’t make fun of him for it.
By company, do u mean the way he moves in bed??
…No. By company, I mean company.
Tch, ur boring
Kyuhyun frowns at his phone, and shoves it back in his pocket. He doesn’t know why he tries.
-
“But Mr. Kim,” he tries again, once again pushing his proposal across the table. “What I’m saying is that you’ll have several benefits that VIP clients already have-”
“And what I’m saying,” Mr. Kim (Kyuhyun’s client) interrupts, “is that what can you offer me that other companies can’t? VIP benefits? I can get those anywhere, why would I come to you guys? Do you think you’re that important? There are several companies that are bigger and more expanded than you!”
It’s been two hours, and Kyuhyun’s almost at his last straw. “Mr. Kim,” he says, trying his best to sound pleasant. “We are offering you our best-monthly newsletters, discounts, better deals, the ability to jump the line-you can’t get that anywhere else without being a client for several years already, at least. And we are offering you this right off the bat.”
Mr. Kim crosses his arms, leaning back in his seat. “I still don’t think that’s quite good enough.”
Well then, fuck you, Kyuhyun wants to spit out. We have clients who offer just as much as you for less all the time.
“I’ll give you two more days,” Mr. Kim continues. “If you don’t have something for me by then, the deal is off.”
Kyuhyun bites his tongue to restrain himself from saying anything foul. “Alright, then. Thank you for your time tonight, Mr. Kim.”
When he returns to the hotel, Sungmin’s still out, so he grabs the half finished bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and pours himself a glass. The wine he had back at the restaurant was heavy on his tongue, unable to be appreciated when he had an obnoxious client sitting across from him.
He’s still drinking when Sungmin returns, just browsing online game catalogues and ignoring Heechul’s instant messages. “How was it?” Sungmin asks, and Kyuhyun just tells him to grab a wine glass if he wants to drink. Sungmin frowns. “Looks like neither of us are getting any luck. Maybe Japan’s cursed or something?”
“Maybe.” Kyuhyun scowls, but the alcohol thrumming in his veins soothes his irritation a little. “He’s just an ass. It doesn’t matter.”
Sungmin crawls onto the bed beside Kyuhyun, wine glass in hand. “What are you doing?”
“Just seeing what game I should buy next. I heard that Skyrim’s pretty good.”
“Do you game often?”
“Yeah-pretty sure I could be a professional StarCraft player if I wanted to be.”
Sungmin lets out a low whistle. “That’s pretty impressive. I’ve never even looked into StarCraft before.”
Kyuhyun shrugs. “I could teach you, if you want. It’s not really that hard once you get the hang of it. Are you good at strategizing?”
“I’d like to think so?”
“Okay.” Kyuhyun takes a final sip of his wine before placing his glass on the bedside table, opening StarCraft. “I’ll teach you how to play it.”
-
A few hours later, and Kyuhyun faces a bigger problem than the fact that Sungmin learns StarCraft faster than he ever did. The fact that Sungmin is so quick with it makes him incredibly…attractive. Kyuhyun mentally curses, draining the rest of his wine in one go as Sungmin cracks his shoulders after another successful round.
The thing is, Kyuhyun has never had a gaming buddy. Heechul was alright at it but didn’t find too much interest in it, Donghae prefers to be outside doing “real” things, and Ryeowook-well, Kyuhyun never really wanted to impose that on Ryeowook. He’s always gamed alone, so the fact that Sungmin’s actually quite absorbed in shooting the Zerg down makes him seem really…really hot.
“You’re really good for a beginner,” he encourages Sungmin. “Are you sure you haven’t played before?”
Sungmin laughs distractedly. “Please. With my family background and constant focus on school and extracurricular activities, I don’t think I had much time for things like this.”
Kyuhyun shakes his head. “You must’ve had such a deprived childhood.”
“I don’t really see it that way, but thanks for worrying.” It’s quite for a few more minutes, until Sungmin loses the current round. He cracks his wrists and pushes the laptop away from him. “I think I’m done for the night.” Kyuhyun glances at the clock-it’s just past one in the morning; barely even scraping the tip of the iceberg of potential gaming hours of the night.
“Already?” he asks jokingly, taking his laptop back.
“Early sleeper, early riser,” Sungmin replies easily. “It’s a healthy lifestyle. You should try it sometime.”
Kyuhyun feigns disgust. “No thanks.” He starts a new round of StarCraft. “Do you want me to turn of the lights? I can game in the dark just fine.”
It’s a moment before Sungmin answers. “I think I’ll watch you for a little while before sleeping? I want to see a professional at work.”
He tries to hide the fact that he’s glowing with pride, and games with his regular flying colors. Sungmin’s leaning against him to get a better look and Kyuhyun does his best to ignore the close proximity-it’s just the same as last night, except this time, he can’t even be considered tipsy enough to make it an excuse for him to like it.
Just face it, the Heechul of his conscience tells him. You like him.
No, he mentally snaps back. I just think he’s hot.
Conscience!Heechul cackles. That’s even better.
“What are you doing with your base?” Sungmin suddenly asks. “How are you protecting it?”
Kyuhyun tries to explain, when he’s suddenly ambushed. He swears under his breath and pauses the game, turning to the other man. “I’m-” He stops before he even has a chance to say anything, though, because he hasn’t registered how close Sungmin is until now-and he realizes how cliché, how stupidly predictable this is, how intentional it might be-is Sungmin doing this intentionally? Is he trying to make Kyuhyun forget how to breathe?
Sungmin raises his eyebrows in question. “Hm?” If Kyuhyun tried, he’s sure he could count his eyelashes. He could see the warm brown in Sungmin’s irises. He could-
Don’t, he warns himself. Devil’s Spawn.
Who the fuck cares? Conscience!Heechul screeches.
Sungmin stares at him, as if waiting for something. Kyuhyun wants to think he’s just waiting for his explanation as to how he’s protecting his base. He’s kind of thinking that’s not the case, though.
Sungmin tenses up when their mouths meet as though he was expecting Kyuhyun to kiss him, and Kyuhyun presses against him earnestly, lips moving clumsily, and Sungmin leans back almost to the point where he falls onto his back. Sungmin’s fingers graze Kyuhyun’s check, threading through his hair and then tugging tightly at the locks.
God, Sungmin’s hot. Sungmin’s so hot. Kyuhyun parts his lips wider, tongue insistent, and Sungmin gasps lightly against his mouth, finally falling backwards and pulling Kyuhyun down with him, chest against chest. Kyuhyun’s laptop tumbles somewhere on the bed and he reaches to grip Sungmin’s waist, trying to align their waists because God this is so hot, all clacking teeth and hot breaths against skin, he shouldn’t feel this attracted to a person even if he does play StarCraft well, shouldn’t feel like his skin’s on fire-
Sungmin rolls his hips against Kyuhyun’s, and they break away from each other, simultaneously gasping. This is heat like he hasn’t felt in a long time-
Shit, what is he doing?
Kyuhyun scrabbles to grab hold of himself, getting off of Sungmin, swallowing thickly. Sungmin looks up at him, confused, and Kyuhyun shakes his head. “Sorry,” he says. “I shouldn’t-that was stupid of me-” He grabs his laptop and sets it straight, shutting it and placing it on the bedside table, nearly knocking over his empty wine glass in the process. “I shouldn’t have done that-sorry.”
Sungmin looks absolutely befuddled as he sits up, brow furrowed in confusion. “It’s okay,” he says slowly. “But I’m okay with it? I was kind of hoping for that to happen?”
“I shouldn’t have done that,” Kyuhyun repeats, scrambling to get off the bed and into the bathroom. “That was inappropriate-” And he slams the bathroom door behind him, not giving Sungmin a chance to talk.
His breathing is still heavy when he splashes cold water on his face, trying to will the heat away. That was definitely out of line-he hasn’t known Sungmin for even a week and he already made a move-it’s not like Sungmin is some faceless stranger in a club-he’s a respectable man, one whose annual income is probably higher than Kyuhyun’s, and Kyuhyun has to see him regularly at annual functions. Kyuhyun wouldn’t be able to avoid him even if he wanted to if anything ever happened between them-like really, really hot sex.
(But the truth is, Kyuhyun would love to have hot sex with Sungmin. He would love to have hot, filthy sex, sex that has them sore for days afterwards.)
He stands still, motionless, hands pressed on the cold counter for several more minutes until his heartbeat finally returns to normal. When he finally feels like he’s able to handle any potential awkwardness that could spark once he sees leaves the bathroom, he does just that.
It turns out he doesn’t have to deal with any awkwardness, because Sungmin is already sleeping on the couch. Kyuhyun breathes a small sigh of relief and quickly changes into his pajamas and slips into bed, trying not to remember the press of their bodies that happened there not too long ago.
He sends a small prayer up above, hoping that he didn’t fuck things up too bad, and goes to sleep.
-
Cho Kyuhyun (09:12:37): How do you deal with the morning after?
Heedictator (09:13:02): did you guys fuck?
Heedictator (09:13:05): YOU GUYS TOTALLY FUCKED DIDN’T YOU
Cho Kyuhyun (09:13:15): No, but some…things happened.
Heedictator (09:13:29): omg you totally chickened out didn’t you, you wuss
Heedictator (09:13:33): this is why your life sucks
Cho Kyuhyun (09:13:37): I would appreciate it if you gave me some actual advice? I’m sure you’ve encountered your fair share of morning afters.
Heedictator (09:13:45): lol k dude idek why you’re freaking out about this, if you didn’t have sex then there’s nothing to be awkward about
Heedictator (09:13:51): and idk why you haven’t had sex yet anyway tbh
Kyuhyun contemplates if he should continue attempting to extract useful advice from Heechul, but finally decides that it’s not worth the effort. He exits the conversation, sighing.
Earlier that morning, when Sungmin’s alarm went off at eight-thirty sharp, Kyuhyun pretended to sleep right through it. In reality, he was actually listening to the sounds of Sungmin getting ready-the running water, the light footsteps, the soft rustle of clothes. Last night was still too clearly etched in his memory-and he’s not as afraid of having to deal with the consequences as he’s afraid of the fact that he wants it to happen again.
After breakfast, he gets changed. He doesn’t have a lot to do, but he’ll feel suffocated if he stays in the hotel all day, so he has his laptop in his bag with him, and plans to find an internet café somewhere.
He doesn’t know how he’s going to face Sungmin when he sees him tonight-he’s hoping that they’ll just pretend like it never happened, but Kyuhyun has had bad experiences with dealing with people he’s done regrettable things with. He ends up being even more awkward than he normally is and says stupid things, fumbles with his hands-it’s bad.
He’s just exited the hotel, the winter air sweeping around him, when he sees a familiar figure rounding the corner towards him. It’s Sungmin-in a moment of panic, Kyuhyun spins around on his heels and tries to go in the opposite direction, but bumps into someone-the poor old woman stumbles and falls right over, giving a startled yelp. Kyuhyun’s heart stops for a moment and he kneels down to help her up, apologizing profusely in lilted Japanese, feeling his ears turn red from embarrassment.
The old woman smiles and pats Kyuhyun’s arm, saying something along the lines of it’s alright and be careful, and Kyuhyun breathes a sigh of relief-but then he hears Sungmin’s voice behind him, and his blood runs cold.
“Are you alright, Kyuhyun?”
He spins around and tries to form a natural expression. “Uh-yeah. Yeah, I am.”
Sungmin raises his eyebrows. “Where are you heading to?”
“Uh.” Kyuhyun hesitates. “An internet café.”
Sungmin blinks. “Huh.”
Forget about the kiss last night. Sungmin’s not going to want to kiss Kyuhyun again after realizing how big of nerd he really is. “I thought staying in the hotel would be kind of suffocating, so…”
After a moment, Sungmin shakes his head. “Okay, how about this. I found an aquarium down the street and I was just coming back to ask if you wanted to go to it with me.”
Kyuhyun is left completely speechless to the point where Sungmin actually has to wave a hand in front of his face. He didn’t think-well, that Sungmin would want anything to do him after he so blatantly pushed him away the night before. And aquariums-buildings dedicated to fish? Really? “Uh…sure, I guess.”
They take a taxi to the aquarium and grab a brochure from the front desk. “There’s an orca show at two-do you want to see that?”
“Okay,” Kyuhyun agrees, not even remembering what orcas are until after a moment of thought. It’s not even half past one yet, so they check out the other fish first-jellyfish and anemones and the like. Kyuhyun can’t tell half of them apart.
Sungmin’s in the middle of inspecting some starfish when Kyuhyun hears a familiar voice-one that has brought him to the end of his nerves a total count of twice before. He scans the area once and leans over to Sungmin, saying in a low voice, “I found my client. It looks like he’s discussing some deal about this aquarium.”
“Really?” Sungmin murmurs, not even paying attention. “Kyuhyun, we can touch the stuff in this tank.”
“What do you think he’s discussing?” Kyuhyun asks, finding more interest in his annoying client than he is in immobile creatures inside a tank. “Do you think he’s going to buy this place?”
“Kyuhyun, feel this anemone! Its tentacles stick to you.”
Not quite sure what to do if Sungmin’s ignoring him, he rolls up his sleeve and sticks his hand in the tank. The water is freezing cold, and he cautiously pokes the same anemone that Sungmin is touching-its tentacles cling to Kyuhyun’s skin, and he wonders if it’s stinging him-but he wouldn’t know, because the water is too cold for him to tell.
“I really like that prospect,” Kyuhyun hears Mr. Kim say. “And how many much authority would I have over the staff?”
Sungmin perks up at Mr. Kim’s voice, and withdraws his hand from the tank, turning around. “Kyuhyun-by your client, do you mean that guy over there? With the receding hairline?”
“Yeah. Why?”
Sungmin grabs a napkin and wipes his hand dry. Kyuhyun follows suit. “Uh…because that’s my client too.”
Kyuhyun looks at Mr. Kim, and then at Sungmin. It’s one thing for Mr. Kim to be discussing a deal with the CEO of an aquarium, but it’s another thing to be discussing deals with both Kyuhyun and Sungmin. They may be from different companies, but they’re also in the same field-to be pulling both companies until he gets the best deal-
“What,” Kyuhyun says, “an ass.”
Sungmin tosses his napkin out. “I’m going to be terminating any hope of a contract with him the next time I see him.”
“Me too.”
They look at each other once and suddenly grin. Kyuhyun grabs Sungmin’s arm and tugs him out of the room before Mr. Kim can spot him, through the arch filled with jellyfish, and into a huge aquarium-one that has a tunnel built in it for people to walk through.
There’s no one in the tunnel except for them and suddenly there’s silence-the way there’s silence when Kyuhyun submerges himself in a bath. It’s quiet except for their breathing, the entire place illuminated a deep blue, large shadows moving slowly across the floor as sharks and manta rays swim over them. Kyuhyun looks at Sungmin once and bursts into laughter at how ridiculous this is-coming to Japan, being stuck sharing a room with him, hating the situation, hating everything, hating Mr. Kim-and then realizing that Mr. Kim had been two timing their companies. It was all so funny, so preposterous-he doubles over laughing, and after a moment, Sungmin joins him-the tunnel echoes with their laughter as they clutch onto each other to keep from falling.
All of this-what’s the point of this anyway?
Kyuhyun’s shoulder presses against Sungmin’s temple as he catches his breath, arms slung casually over his shoulders.
“This is stupid,” he finally says, only hearing the distant waves of the ocean again. “I can’t believe things turned out this way.”
“Well.” Sungmin exhales, a smile in his voice. “Yeah.”
Their eyes meet, the quiet of the aquarium almost deafening as they realize just how close their faces are-but Sungmin only grins, the curve of his lips distinct as he kisses Kyuhyun, hard on the mouth. Kyuhyun only has time to gasp once before he stumbles backwards, limbs tangling with Sungmin’s until his back hits the glass of the tunnel. It’s all lips and no teeth or tongue but Sungmin has Kyuhyun’s face in his hands, just the slide of lips on lips and Kyuhyun can’t breathe, he can’t catch his breath and oh God this is so good-
“We probably shouldn’t be doing this,” he gasps between their kisses, although his words don’t exactly mirror his actions, considering his hands are gripping Sungmin’s waist, running up and down his back, anything he can reach-pressing their bodies so close together it’s almost stifling-
“I have no idea why,” Sungmin replies breathily, his mouth leaving Kyuhyun’s and nibbling along his jawline, until his tongue flicks the spot right underneath his ear. A heavy shudder runs through Kyuhyun, desire heady in his veins and okay this was definitely not how today was going to go, he was supposed to ignore Sungmin and spend the day in an internet café and eat cup noodles-but he supposes, as Sungmin’s mouth finds his again, this is okay too. Sungmin can be one of the Devil’s Spawn and Kyuhyun can still kiss him-that’s alright.
(Sungmin’s hand runs down Kyuhyun’s arm and his fingers linger at his wrist, and Kyuhyun wonders why it was never alright in the first place.)
-
The rest of the day is spent with no worries, and Kyuhyun has dinner with Sungmin in a fancy western restaurant after watching the orca show and checking out the other exhibits in the aquarium. They share a bottle of wine and talk about various topics, and just before dessert, Sungmin calls Mr. Kim and says that the discussion for their contract is off-that the company has deduced that his signature is not worth what they would have to give him in return. After a short minute, he hangs up, telling Kyuhyun that Mr. Kim doesn’t sound very fazed at all.
A few minutes later, Kyuhyun’s phone rings in his pocket. He fishes it out and picks up-“Hello?”
“Mr. Cho.” It’s Mr. Kim, not surprisingly. “I’ve reconsidered your offer, and I’ve decided that I’ll take you up on it-when would you like to meet so we can finalize the deal?”
Kyuhyun’s eyes meet Sungmin’s, feeling a child-like sort of giddiness bubble up in his stomach. “Actually, Mr. Kim, our company received a new offer just a few hours ago. The new client has offered a larger sum for less benefits and was entirely willing, so we’ve signed the contract with him. I was just about to contact you to let you know that we won’t be requiring your service anymore.”
From the other end of the line, Mr. Kim sputters, and Kyuhyun has to struggle to keep his snickers in. “But Mr. Cho-”
“Thank you for your time, Mr. Kim.” And without a moment’s hesitation, he hangs up.
“Do you think we’ll get in trouble for purposely terminating a potentially good contract?” Sungmin asks.
He shrugs. “He was the one two-timing us.”
There’s a moment of contemplative thought, before Sungmin leans forward against the table. “Y’know, for rival companies, we aren’t really rivals at all, are we? We just happened to go up against each other.”
“Wrong place, wrong time,” Kyuhyun agrees.
“Lucky that we were somehow locked together, huh?”
Kyuhyun’s not sure if it’s luck as much as it’s just brutal force, but he nods anyway. “One of my coworkers calls you guys the Devil’s Spawn.”
“Well,” Sungmin replies, a little miffed, “we call you guys the Destroyers of Happiness, so. I guess we’re even.”
Destroyers of Happiness. Kyuhyun actually kind of likes it. “I guess we are.”
They return to the hotel with the wine in their veins, a little giggly like teenage schoolboys, and there is no hesitation between them this time once the door closes-Sungmin presses Kyuhyun against the wall, fingers lacing together above his head. There are butterflies in his stomach, fluttering so much that he can’t breathe, and Sungmin takes them by the hand into the bathroom and starts the shower. Kyuhyun doesn’t have time to be confused or embarrassed because Sungmin’s mouth is already on him again, lips against skin, teeth nipping at his neck and hands tugging insistently at Kyuhyun’s clothes.
Kyuhyun can probably count a few times that he’s had sex in the shower before, but he can’t quite be sure if he’s ever had it as slow and as electrifying as he does with Sungmin. Sungmin is warm and enveloping and sensual, all soft curves but still sturdy and reliable-it’s Kyuhyun’s moans that echo within the tiles of the bathroom, Kyuhyun who comes first with a long shudder, face pressed against Sungmin’s neck.
“You okay?” Sungmin asks afterwards, breathless, breathing against Kyuhyun’s wet hair and the hot water still spraying them. Kyuhyun all but purrs, fingers tracing circles against the skin of Sungmin’s waist. Sungmin laughs softly. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
-
“This is the millionth time you’ve ditched us since you came back,” Donghae whines, throwing an eraser at Kyuhyun’s face. It hits him square in the notes, and Kyuhyun glares, throwing it back (and missing).
“I haven’t even been back for a week yet, so this really can’t be the millionth time,” he deadpans, grabbing his jacket and circling his scarf around his neck. Today’s Friday-he returned to Korea on Sunday, which was Sungmin’s birthday-except he didn’t actually know that it was Sungmin’s birthday until afterwards, so since today’s Friday, they’re celebrating with dinner. He still hasn’t told Heechul or Donghae about him because he actually wants to see Sungmin seriously, and he’s the first since Ryeowook, so…he really isn’t up for teasing, because Heechul and Donghae will definitely tease.
“Do you hate us now?” Donghae asks. Kyuhyun pushes his chair in. “What happened in Japan? Kyuhyun? Heechul-hyung, he’s ignoring me!”
“Just let him be,” Heechul says from behind his computer. He’s probably bidding on something on eBay-it’s what he always does, since he has so much free time after shoving his work onto his colleagues. Kyuhyun rolls his eyes and grabs his briefcase, leaving the office despite Donghae’s wails.
He rides the elevator down to the ground floor with a nervous heart, because he got Sungmin a gift yesterday (a nice watch that put a dent in his wallet) and isn’t sure if he’ll like it. He hasn’t known Sungmin for long so he can’t determine what’ll make him happy the most, but-Kyuhyun wants to try. Over time, he’ll know-Sungmin’s gift for his birthday next year will be better. And the year after that. And the year after that one, too.
Sungmin’s already in the parking lot, waiting for him. He’s wearing a suit, most likely just having got off work too, and the smile blossoms on Kyuhyun’s face automatically as he makes his way towards the other man. “Hey.”
Sungmin’s smile reaches his eyes. “Hey.”
Kyuhyun motions towards his car. “You ready to go?”
From a little ways away, he hears a voice shriek. “See? I told you he was with the Devil’s Spawn! I told you!” It doesn’t help that Kyuhyun recognizes that voice to belong to Heechul. He cringes. Heechul had been suspecting him all week, probably. “You owe me money! DONGHAE, DON’T RUN FROM ME. I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE.”
Sungmin shoots Kyuhyun a questioning look. “Your friends?”
“I wish they weren’t,” he replies, making a face. Sungmin laughs and leans forward, catching his lips in a quick kiss. Kyuhyun flushes.
“I’d like to meet them one day.”
“Trust me,” he says with a straight face. “You don’t.”
“I do!” Sungmin insists. Kyuhyun just shakes his head and tells him to get in the car.
(There’s a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon waiting in the backseat.)
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