[Fic] Super Junior - PG - Transmission
Title: Transmission
Genre: AU
Pairing: Hankyung/Siwon
Rating: PG
Warnings: ? See confession below.
Summary: He was getting somewhere, but he had one stop to make on the way.
Confessions of a Auto Mechanic - Or not. If you can tell where I went through with a wink and a prayer, and where I actually sort of knew what I was talking about... More power to you. Guide to transmission repair, it is not. (Boring much, anyway?) The title? Is cuter in an abstract sense. If you take it in a literal way, it's not quite as fun. Makes me sound lazy, actually. :P Written over the course of today, so if there are horrific mistakes, I blame lack of distance as I read over it.
...I was going through SiHan withdrawal today like crazy. Therefore. This. I don't even know. One minute I was basking in unusual winter sunlight, and the next... My Hankyung muse thought it was a great idea. What next, guys? I'm already writing a novel-sized AU that you shoehorned into, so what? Astronauts? Cowboys? I'm going to go drown myself in my teacup now.
***
Transmission
***
The squealing noises when Hankyung pushed on the gas pedal were the first indication that something was absolutely, terribly wrong. He was on his way out of town on an emergency trip... And this was not in his plans at all.
The car limped along slowly, while he scanned the darkening streets for some kind of car garage that would be open at this hour. But luck, having deserted him completely, finally broke through. A solitary light was on in the garage window as he pulled in, gingerly stopping. Thankful that he could stop in fact.
He held his breath as he knocked, knocked loudly, even on the broad garage doors in hopes of rousing someone.
A figure in a dark blue jumpsuit and a backward baseball cap edged into the office area with a frown. He hoped he looked pathetic enough with his dead car behind him.
“Hey,” the man said in a husky baritone. “Sorry, we’re...”
“I know, you’re closed. I’m sorry. I’m on my way out of town, my mother... Ah. My car is making noises, and I have no idea what’s wrong.”
There was a steadily rising amount of panic in his voice, that this man was going to close the door, leave him out here in the... Where would he even find a taxi in this part of town? There were none.
The man’s expression had softened, and he grabbed keys and a flashlight from beside the door.
“Let’s take a look.”
He had Hankyung turn on the car, press the accelerator so he could hear the noise. He hummed and pulled dipsticks and hummed some more.
“You’ve had the oil and transmission fluid changed recently?”
“Last month.”
“And regularly before that?”
“Of course.”
“Hmm. I’m just finishing something up in the garage, but I can open the doors up for you and get it up on the lift at least. I could start looking at it right after I’m finished with the other one.”
He sagged a little against the car.
“That sounds great. Thank you so much.”
“Not a problem. You said you were heading out of town? When did you need to go at the latest?”
“Early tomorrow morning,” he said, biting his lip, and noticing for the first time that the other man had tiny streaks and smudges of grease on his face, over the bridge of his nose, on his cheekbones, like some kind of automotive war paint.
“I can’t make any promises... I want to look around a bit more. But I promise I’ll do my best to see you’re on the road tomorrow morning.”
They smiled at each other.
“I’m Hankyung,” he said, holding out his hand.
“Siwon. Nice to meet you.”
Siwon smiled, a bit of the sick worry in his stomach melted away.
***
He sat in a pile of fidgeting nerves for almost 15 minutes, inside the office waiting room that Siwon had directed him to. Nothing like this happened immediately. He knew that. Siwon hadn’t given him an estimate on how long it would take for him to finish the job he was working on and rightfully so. Work until it was done well, after all.
Still, with nothing to do, he was going to go crazy. There was a tv, but that would keep his attention for about five minutes.
He walked cautiously into the garage, staring around curiously at the assortment of tools and parts laid out on counters, bottles of oil and a compression tank. It had been years since he’d even had to so much as talk to a mechanic. He spotted Siwon crouched beside the other vehicle he was working on, setting down a work light and tool set. And something else. Some sort of torque wrench, he thought.
Siwon gestured he should come closer when he was spotted.
“Is it okay if I stay back here?”
Siwon glanced around and shrugged good naturedly. “Sure, I don’t mind. Our insurance doesn’t really like it, so just don’t go knocking something onto yourself, okay?”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “Sure.”
A grease darkened hand patted the floor beside the car. “Have a seat. Be warned I might use you as an errand boy if I need something.”
“Sure, if I know what to get you,” he replied, watching Siwon’s grin flash as he slid beneath the car until his hips and legs remained.
“Is this your shop?” he asked.
“It’s not,” Siwon said, the tip of his boot twitching with whatever he was doing underneath. “It belongs to a friend of mine’s father. I’m finishing up college, so I catch some work here when I can. Don’t worry, I do know cars, though...”
“More than I do, which is quite a lot,” Hankyung said ruefully. “I never learned.”
“If we all knew, it’d be hard to get jobs!” A subtle grunt, as Siwon’s heel dragged against the floor for purchase. “I wanted to know what made cars tick. It’s hard work, but I like it... Especially up against sitting down with a pile of textbooks, you know?”
“I definitely understand. I got an office job right out of college. It’s a job! Haven’t really found what I wanted to do with myself though.”
“At least you’ve got time... No wife or kids to support?”
“No, neither.”
“Then you definitely have time. Hey, could you get me a wrench like this? 9/16ths? Mine got moved... Probably by me. There should be one on the table under the window.”
“Sure. 9/16ths.” He stepped gingerly around Siwon’s legs, hunting amidst the spread of tools until he spotted the elusive wrench. “Ah! Found it!” he said, hurrying back until he could kneel beside the car.
“Here it is,” he said, half sticking his head under the car, and stretching his arm out toward Siwon.
“Thanks...”
Siwon’s hand closed half around his, half around the wrench and they fumbled for a moment for a clean transfer. His cheeks were burning when he turned back around and sat. He hadn’t really anticipated being attracted to his mechanic.
He sat, and Siwon mumbled, in a companionable sort of atmosphere. He did not feel compelled to talk, definitely insomuch as he was afraid of sounding like a total moron now.
“Done!” Siwon exclaimed, nearly scaring the pants off of him. He shimmied until all of him had appeared, sitting up just a mite too fast before Hankyung could even voice a warning and conking his head on the skirt of the car.
“Ow.”
“Sorry... I couldn’t warn you in time.”
“Don’t worry! I come out from under cars with worse than that... If I’m not bleeding in a few places or at least lost some skin, I don’t feel like I’ve worked.”
He held out his hands and sure enough, there was at least one scraped knuckle and a healing wound higher up on his wrist.
“Should you put something on that?”
A careless shrug. “It’d just come off. Have you eaten? I can call in delivery on something while I put this away and start looking at your car.”
His stomach gave a none-too-subtle growl at the thought and Siwon laughed.
“Pizza okay?”
“Sure.”
He dialed from an equally greasy phone, and surveyed the car that had been put up on the lift.
“So, has it been leaking?”
“Not that I know of? I mean... I guess I could have missed something. It’s been a little hectic. I try and check the fluids pretty often, though.”
Siwon gave a thoughtful hum and poked his hand into the guts of the car. His hand came away slick with dark, reddish fluid.
“Well, if it hasn’t been, it is now.”
He cursed under his breath, leaning back against the bench. “That’s not really the color it should be, is it?”
“Not really, no...”
The fluid was pumped by hand from the top, and Siwon was deep in concentration as he smelled it.
“It’s dark, you see, but it smells...”
“Burnt.”
“Yeah.”
A knock echoed into the garage, and seemed to go with the echoing doom in his head.
“I’ll get it,” Hankyung said, eying Siwon’s dirty hands.
Siwon emerged as he was opening the box, the scent of cheese and yeasty crust all but driving him crazy even through his nerves. Siwon...smelled very strongly of orange automotive cleanser as he sat beside Hankyung, tossing his hat away and scrubbing a forearm across his hair. Not really doing much for it, but it suited him still.
“Ah, food!”
He picked at his food, watching Siwon eat out of the corner of his eye more so than really eating himself. Somehow he got down two pieces, though, before giving up. It was getting late, by then. And his hope was severely dwindling. He laid his head back against the wall with a sigh.
“Hey, if you don’t mind me asking... Where did you say you needed to be tomorrow?”
“My mother is having surgery tomorrow afternoon. It’s not major or anything, but... Well, it’s surgery. And she needs someone with her for a while after. I should have gone earlier.”
“It’ll work out, don’t worry.” That face was full of warmth and reassurance again. “You need to get up early to drive then, so why don’t you lay down on the couch a while? I’ll keep working, see what I can do.”
“Can you work miracles, Siwon?”
He squeezed Hankyung’s hand, sending another wave of warmth through him.
“Not personally!”
He did not expect to sleep, not really, as he heard quiet noises coming through the door. But it felt a little like he had found some kind of guardian angel. If guardian angels had dimples and somewhat spiky hat hair.
He woke with Siwon’s hand on his shoulder, fighting out of the unexpected weight of the coat that was on him.
“Hey,” Siwon said softly, crouching beside him. “My boss will be here in an hour.”
“The car is toast isn’t it?”
“It needs a new transmission,” Siwon said with regret, his brown eyes sorrowful.
He let his head drop into his hands. “I knew it.”
“Hey, it’s okay. Come with me.”
Siwon pulled him up by his wrist, keeping hold of it until they were outside in the cool mist of just after dawn.
“Your engine in there looks to be in really good shape...” Siwon said as he led them down the sidewalk. “Your car’s not old, so I think it’d be worth fixing. I can find you a really nice rebuilt one for not much money.”
“But even you can’t have it finished this morning.”
The other man cackled. “No, I couldn’t. But I could have it done for you by the time you get back?”
Hankyung blinked, barely noting they had stopped. “Back? But that’s the only way...”
He caught the keys out of blind instinct, staring at them for a long moment before noticing the silvered blue sedan that they stood by.
“What...”
“I live really close to work, as you can tell. I don’t really use it much, anyway, and I can borrow someone else’s if I really need it... And hey, I guess I have yours when I fix it, right? So you can just bring it back, and we’ll swap.”
He knew the words that were exiting Siwon’s mouth, knew their meaning, and could even read the eager smile. But... What?
“But you... You don’t even know me, why...”
“Can you drive?”
“Of course.”
“That’s all I need to know then.”
“I could just take off and never come back, for all you know. I can’t...”
“I’ll still have your car, though. We’re just trading for a while.”
He heard the breath whoosh out of Siwon as he hugged him tightly.
“People don’t do that.”
“Then you haven’t met me before,” Siwon said, squeezing him hard before patting his back lightly. “Just have a good trip, okay? Take as much time as you need.”
“Yeah,” he said, laughing. “Thank you. Seriously. Thank you.”
“Let’s drive this back to the shop then, and get your stuff into it so you can get onto the road.
Siwon emerged from the office just as he had finished transferring his bags, carrying a small sack and a steaming travel mug.
“It’s not much... Just a sandwich and an apple, but you really shouldn’t start out on a trip on an empty stomach. Um. Coffee, too. I put some creamer in it? We don’t have the best stuff, here. I hope that’s okay.”
“That’s... That’s fine. Thank you.”
“Be safe. I know your mom will be just fine.”
“Thanks, Siwon.”
He was still mumbling thank you when he got into the car.
He let out a slightly hysterical laugh as he turned onto the road. The car’s speakers were blaring out his favorite radio station.
The man had good taste in music, too.
***
Two weeks later
Siwon’s prediction had been true. The surgery had come off without a hitch, and she had been home within days. Everything, absolutely everything had turned out the way he had wanted it. Though of course he remembered his car, still back in town with the mechanic whose last name he knew only from the car’s registration. This was all thanks to him. If he got back, and the car had been compacted into a box of scrap, he wouldn’t even care.
He wondered what he would do if it were not Siwon at the garage when he returned, but someone else? He knew where he lived, but that seemed awkward. And besides, there was payment to consider. He turned cautiously into the garage’s parking lot, looking around curiously for his car which wasn’t to be spotted. Perhaps Siwon had taken it home, then? He hoped so, for all the inconvenience he had caused.
A head poked out from the open garage bay, and the blinding smile that crossed his face when he recognized the car had not dimmed one bit in the two weeks since he had seen it. Maybe he hadn’t been that nice or good looking. It had been night, he had been stressed and tired... But no, as he stepped out of the car, everything to do with Siwon was just as he remembered.
Possibly better.
“How is your mom?” Siwon asked, sounding a bit winded after his quick jog over.
“Great! I got there in plenty of time to help her fill out her paperwork and everything. I...don’t even know what I would have done if it hadn’t been for you.”
“It worked out! That’s what’s important. I’m really to happy to hear it went okay.”
“Should we take care of the paperwork now..?”
“Oh, that’s all back at my place with the car.”
“Oh.” That sounded reasonable. “Okay. First thing, though... My mom said I was supposed to give you a hug for her, for everything you did.”
Siwon chuckled. “Okay.”
They merged together like two puzzle pieces, arms around shoulders, around waist, body against body, as if it were the hundredth hug instead of the second.
“You’re welcome, Mom,” Siwon said, gaining an answering chortle from Hankyung
“She’d never have forgiven me if I’d forgotten.”
Siwon laughed again. “After all that and all she wanted you to do was give me a hug?” he teased.
“Well,” Hankyung said, unable to resist the urge to tease back. “She said something about a kiss, too, but... Mm.”
It took him only a fraction of a second to return Siwon’s kiss, leaning into the soft mouth with simple eagerness. It lasted mere seconds. Long enough to know that it had nothing to do with thanks. Siwon licked his lips as they parted, and grinned.
“Now you can tell her you did as she asked. Let’s go see your car, okay?”
He collected himself enough to hand the keys to Siwon, sliding into the passenger’s seat as they drove down the block and around the corner to Siwon’s place. And there was his car, gleaming and cleaner than he’d ever seen it since it had been in his possession. He knew the car they were in was slightly dusty and he winced. Not good.
Siwon waved him down to the curb, a perfect vantage point for the two vehicles.
“Hey, they look pretty good together, don’t you think?” Siwon asked a bit rhetorically as they stood back and observed. He felt Siwon’s hand creep onto his shoulder as he tilted his head. Siwon’s blue car and his white car were not matches in make, model, or year. They both had four doors and four tires and windows, he supposed.
“Yes,” Siwon continued. And declared with solemnity, “Carmates.”
Hankyung was wiping tears of laughter from his eyes as Siwon opened his front door, letting him into his home, and into his life.
Genre: AU
Pairing: Hankyung/Siwon
Rating: PG
Warnings: ? See confession below.
Summary: He was getting somewhere, but he had one stop to make on the way.
Confessions of a Auto Mechanic - Or not. If you can tell where I went through with a wink and a prayer, and where I actually sort of knew what I was talking about... More power to you. Guide to transmission repair, it is not. (Boring much, anyway?) The title? Is cuter in an abstract sense. If you take it in a literal way, it's not quite as fun. Makes me sound lazy, actually. :P Written over the course of today, so if there are horrific mistakes, I blame lack of distance as I read over it.
...I was going through SiHan withdrawal today like crazy. Therefore. This. I don't even know. One minute I was basking in unusual winter sunlight, and the next... My Hankyung muse thought it was a great idea. What next, guys? I'm already writing a novel-sized AU that you shoehorned into, so what? Astronauts? Cowboys? I'm going to go drown myself in my teacup now.
***
Transmission
***
The squealing noises when Hankyung pushed on the gas pedal were the first indication that something was absolutely, terribly wrong. He was on his way out of town on an emergency trip... And this was not in his plans at all.
The car limped along slowly, while he scanned the darkening streets for some kind of car garage that would be open at this hour. But luck, having deserted him completely, finally broke through. A solitary light was on in the garage window as he pulled in, gingerly stopping. Thankful that he could stop in fact.
He held his breath as he knocked, knocked loudly, even on the broad garage doors in hopes of rousing someone.
A figure in a dark blue jumpsuit and a backward baseball cap edged into the office area with a frown. He hoped he looked pathetic enough with his dead car behind him.
“Hey,” the man said in a husky baritone. “Sorry, we’re...”
“I know, you’re closed. I’m sorry. I’m on my way out of town, my mother... Ah. My car is making noises, and I have no idea what’s wrong.”
There was a steadily rising amount of panic in his voice, that this man was going to close the door, leave him out here in the... Where would he even find a taxi in this part of town? There were none.
The man’s expression had softened, and he grabbed keys and a flashlight from beside the door.
“Let’s take a look.”
He had Hankyung turn on the car, press the accelerator so he could hear the noise. He hummed and pulled dipsticks and hummed some more.
“You’ve had the oil and transmission fluid changed recently?”
“Last month.”
“And regularly before that?”
“Of course.”
“Hmm. I’m just finishing something up in the garage, but I can open the doors up for you and get it up on the lift at least. I could start looking at it right after I’m finished with the other one.”
He sagged a little against the car.
“That sounds great. Thank you so much.”
“Not a problem. You said you were heading out of town? When did you need to go at the latest?”
“Early tomorrow morning,” he said, biting his lip, and noticing for the first time that the other man had tiny streaks and smudges of grease on his face, over the bridge of his nose, on his cheekbones, like some kind of automotive war paint.
“I can’t make any promises... I want to look around a bit more. But I promise I’ll do my best to see you’re on the road tomorrow morning.”
They smiled at each other.
“I’m Hankyung,” he said, holding out his hand.
“Siwon. Nice to meet you.”
Siwon smiled, a bit of the sick worry in his stomach melted away.
***
He sat in a pile of fidgeting nerves for almost 15 minutes, inside the office waiting room that Siwon had directed him to. Nothing like this happened immediately. He knew that. Siwon hadn’t given him an estimate on how long it would take for him to finish the job he was working on and rightfully so. Work until it was done well, after all.
Still, with nothing to do, he was going to go crazy. There was a tv, but that would keep his attention for about five minutes.
He walked cautiously into the garage, staring around curiously at the assortment of tools and parts laid out on counters, bottles of oil and a compression tank. It had been years since he’d even had to so much as talk to a mechanic. He spotted Siwon crouched beside the other vehicle he was working on, setting down a work light and tool set. And something else. Some sort of torque wrench, he thought.
Siwon gestured he should come closer when he was spotted.
“Is it okay if I stay back here?”
Siwon glanced around and shrugged good naturedly. “Sure, I don’t mind. Our insurance doesn’t really like it, so just don’t go knocking something onto yourself, okay?”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “Sure.”
A grease darkened hand patted the floor beside the car. “Have a seat. Be warned I might use you as an errand boy if I need something.”
“Sure, if I know what to get you,” he replied, watching Siwon’s grin flash as he slid beneath the car until his hips and legs remained.
“Is this your shop?” he asked.
“It’s not,” Siwon said, the tip of his boot twitching with whatever he was doing underneath. “It belongs to a friend of mine’s father. I’m finishing up college, so I catch some work here when I can. Don’t worry, I do know cars, though...”
“More than I do, which is quite a lot,” Hankyung said ruefully. “I never learned.”
“If we all knew, it’d be hard to get jobs!” A subtle grunt, as Siwon’s heel dragged against the floor for purchase. “I wanted to know what made cars tick. It’s hard work, but I like it... Especially up against sitting down with a pile of textbooks, you know?”
“I definitely understand. I got an office job right out of college. It’s a job! Haven’t really found what I wanted to do with myself though.”
“At least you’ve got time... No wife or kids to support?”
“No, neither.”
“Then you definitely have time. Hey, could you get me a wrench like this? 9/16ths? Mine got moved... Probably by me. There should be one on the table under the window.”
“Sure. 9/16ths.” He stepped gingerly around Siwon’s legs, hunting amidst the spread of tools until he spotted the elusive wrench. “Ah! Found it!” he said, hurrying back until he could kneel beside the car.
“Here it is,” he said, half sticking his head under the car, and stretching his arm out toward Siwon.
“Thanks...”
Siwon’s hand closed half around his, half around the wrench and they fumbled for a moment for a clean transfer. His cheeks were burning when he turned back around and sat. He hadn’t really anticipated being attracted to his mechanic.
He sat, and Siwon mumbled, in a companionable sort of atmosphere. He did not feel compelled to talk, definitely insomuch as he was afraid of sounding like a total moron now.
“Done!” Siwon exclaimed, nearly scaring the pants off of him. He shimmied until all of him had appeared, sitting up just a mite too fast before Hankyung could even voice a warning and conking his head on the skirt of the car.
“Ow.”
“Sorry... I couldn’t warn you in time.”
“Don’t worry! I come out from under cars with worse than that... If I’m not bleeding in a few places or at least lost some skin, I don’t feel like I’ve worked.”
He held out his hands and sure enough, there was at least one scraped knuckle and a healing wound higher up on his wrist.
“Should you put something on that?”
A careless shrug. “It’d just come off. Have you eaten? I can call in delivery on something while I put this away and start looking at your car.”
His stomach gave a none-too-subtle growl at the thought and Siwon laughed.
“Pizza okay?”
“Sure.”
He dialed from an equally greasy phone, and surveyed the car that had been put up on the lift.
“So, has it been leaking?”
“Not that I know of? I mean... I guess I could have missed something. It’s been a little hectic. I try and check the fluids pretty often, though.”
Siwon gave a thoughtful hum and poked his hand into the guts of the car. His hand came away slick with dark, reddish fluid.
“Well, if it hasn’t been, it is now.”
He cursed under his breath, leaning back against the bench. “That’s not really the color it should be, is it?”
“Not really, no...”
The fluid was pumped by hand from the top, and Siwon was deep in concentration as he smelled it.
“It’s dark, you see, but it smells...”
“Burnt.”
“Yeah.”
A knock echoed into the garage, and seemed to go with the echoing doom in his head.
“I’ll get it,” Hankyung said, eying Siwon’s dirty hands.
Siwon emerged as he was opening the box, the scent of cheese and yeasty crust all but driving him crazy even through his nerves. Siwon...smelled very strongly of orange automotive cleanser as he sat beside Hankyung, tossing his hat away and scrubbing a forearm across his hair. Not really doing much for it, but it suited him still.
“Ah, food!”
He picked at his food, watching Siwon eat out of the corner of his eye more so than really eating himself. Somehow he got down two pieces, though, before giving up. It was getting late, by then. And his hope was severely dwindling. He laid his head back against the wall with a sigh.
“Hey, if you don’t mind me asking... Where did you say you needed to be tomorrow?”
“My mother is having surgery tomorrow afternoon. It’s not major or anything, but... Well, it’s surgery. And she needs someone with her for a while after. I should have gone earlier.”
“It’ll work out, don’t worry.” That face was full of warmth and reassurance again. “You need to get up early to drive then, so why don’t you lay down on the couch a while? I’ll keep working, see what I can do.”
“Can you work miracles, Siwon?”
He squeezed Hankyung’s hand, sending another wave of warmth through him.
“Not personally!”
He did not expect to sleep, not really, as he heard quiet noises coming through the door. But it felt a little like he had found some kind of guardian angel. If guardian angels had dimples and somewhat spiky hat hair.
He woke with Siwon’s hand on his shoulder, fighting out of the unexpected weight of the coat that was on him.
“Hey,” Siwon said softly, crouching beside him. “My boss will be here in an hour.”
“The car is toast isn’t it?”
“It needs a new transmission,” Siwon said with regret, his brown eyes sorrowful.
He let his head drop into his hands. “I knew it.”
“Hey, it’s okay. Come with me.”
Siwon pulled him up by his wrist, keeping hold of it until they were outside in the cool mist of just after dawn.
“Your engine in there looks to be in really good shape...” Siwon said as he led them down the sidewalk. “Your car’s not old, so I think it’d be worth fixing. I can find you a really nice rebuilt one for not much money.”
“But even you can’t have it finished this morning.”
The other man cackled. “No, I couldn’t. But I could have it done for you by the time you get back?”
Hankyung blinked, barely noting they had stopped. “Back? But that’s the only way...”
He caught the keys out of blind instinct, staring at them for a long moment before noticing the silvered blue sedan that they stood by.
“What...”
“I live really close to work, as you can tell. I don’t really use it much, anyway, and I can borrow someone else’s if I really need it... And hey, I guess I have yours when I fix it, right? So you can just bring it back, and we’ll swap.”
He knew the words that were exiting Siwon’s mouth, knew their meaning, and could even read the eager smile. But... What?
“But you... You don’t even know me, why...”
“Can you drive?”
“Of course.”
“That’s all I need to know then.”
“I could just take off and never come back, for all you know. I can’t...”
“I’ll still have your car, though. We’re just trading for a while.”
He heard the breath whoosh out of Siwon as he hugged him tightly.
“People don’t do that.”
“Then you haven’t met me before,” Siwon said, squeezing him hard before patting his back lightly. “Just have a good trip, okay? Take as much time as you need.”
“Yeah,” he said, laughing. “Thank you. Seriously. Thank you.”
“Let’s drive this back to the shop then, and get your stuff into it so you can get onto the road.
Siwon emerged from the office just as he had finished transferring his bags, carrying a small sack and a steaming travel mug.
“It’s not much... Just a sandwich and an apple, but you really shouldn’t start out on a trip on an empty stomach. Um. Coffee, too. I put some creamer in it? We don’t have the best stuff, here. I hope that’s okay.”
“That’s... That’s fine. Thank you.”
“Be safe. I know your mom will be just fine.”
“Thanks, Siwon.”
He was still mumbling thank you when he got into the car.
He let out a slightly hysterical laugh as he turned onto the road. The car’s speakers were blaring out his favorite radio station.
The man had good taste in music, too.
***
Two weeks later
Siwon’s prediction had been true. The surgery had come off without a hitch, and she had been home within days. Everything, absolutely everything had turned out the way he had wanted it. Though of course he remembered his car, still back in town with the mechanic whose last name he knew only from the car’s registration. This was all thanks to him. If he got back, and the car had been compacted into a box of scrap, he wouldn’t even care.
He wondered what he would do if it were not Siwon at the garage when he returned, but someone else? He knew where he lived, but that seemed awkward. And besides, there was payment to consider. He turned cautiously into the garage’s parking lot, looking around curiously for his car which wasn’t to be spotted. Perhaps Siwon had taken it home, then? He hoped so, for all the inconvenience he had caused.
A head poked out from the open garage bay, and the blinding smile that crossed his face when he recognized the car had not dimmed one bit in the two weeks since he had seen it. Maybe he hadn’t been that nice or good looking. It had been night, he had been stressed and tired... But no, as he stepped out of the car, everything to do with Siwon was just as he remembered.
Possibly better.
“How is your mom?” Siwon asked, sounding a bit winded after his quick jog over.
“Great! I got there in plenty of time to help her fill out her paperwork and everything. I...don’t even know what I would have done if it hadn’t been for you.”
“It worked out! That’s what’s important. I’m really to happy to hear it went okay.”
“Should we take care of the paperwork now..?”
“Oh, that’s all back at my place with the car.”
“Oh.” That sounded reasonable. “Okay. First thing, though... My mom said I was supposed to give you a hug for her, for everything you did.”
Siwon chuckled. “Okay.”
They merged together like two puzzle pieces, arms around shoulders, around waist, body against body, as if it were the hundredth hug instead of the second.
“You’re welcome, Mom,” Siwon said, gaining an answering chortle from Hankyung
“She’d never have forgiven me if I’d forgotten.”
Siwon laughed again. “After all that and all she wanted you to do was give me a hug?” he teased.
“Well,” Hankyung said, unable to resist the urge to tease back. “She said something about a kiss, too, but... Mm.”
It took him only a fraction of a second to return Siwon’s kiss, leaning into the soft mouth with simple eagerness. It lasted mere seconds. Long enough to know that it had nothing to do with thanks. Siwon licked his lips as they parted, and grinned.
“Now you can tell her you did as she asked. Let’s go see your car, okay?”
He collected himself enough to hand the keys to Siwon, sliding into the passenger’s seat as they drove down the block and around the corner to Siwon’s place. And there was his car, gleaming and cleaner than he’d ever seen it since it had been in his possession. He knew the car they were in was slightly dusty and he winced. Not good.
Siwon waved him down to the curb, a perfect vantage point for the two vehicles.
“Hey, they look pretty good together, don’t you think?” Siwon asked a bit rhetorically as they stood back and observed. He felt Siwon’s hand creep onto his shoulder as he tilted his head. Siwon’s blue car and his white car were not matches in make, model, or year. They both had four doors and four tires and windows, he supposed.
“Yes,” Siwon continued. And declared with solemnity, “Carmates.”
Hankyung was wiping tears of laughter from his eyes as Siwon opened his front door, letting him into his home, and into his life.