Super Junior AU; Various Pairings; Love/War
Title: Love/War (2/?)
Fandom: Super Junior AU (Mafia)
Pairings: Siwon/Hankyung/Heechul (Hankyung/Heechul), Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi, Kibum/Donghae, Yehsung/Ryeowook, Kangin/Eeteuk, Tablo/Eunhyuk
Pairings in Chapter: Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi, Hankyung/Heechul, slight Kangin/Eeteuk
Word Count: 3,318
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The Kim family and the Choi family are the two oldest families in Seoul: where other families have been born, grown, and then fell apart, they remain strong. Unfortunately, they are mortal enemies, and where one lives alongside the law, the other is beyond any control. It's up to the new generation of members to destroy the violence between them - even if it means destroying one family in the process.
A/N: I really need to get another chapter out before I post anymore of these XD I feel like the 50,000 words in such a short time has actually killed me.
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2
“I heard you pissed Eeteuk and Kangin off last night,” said Kyuhyun unceremoniously the next morning, when Heechul wandered into the kitchen for some late breakfast. Heechul gaped at him for a moment.
“Seriously,” he said. “Don’t you people have better things to do than gossip about me?”
“No,” said Kyuhyun, face blank. “Seriously, our lives are so pale in comparison to yours, hyung, we have to live through yours.”
Heechul eyed him thoughtfully while he pulled a carton of milk from the fridge for his coffee. “Sometimes,” he said, “I don’t know whether I admire your bravery, or whether I simply want to punch you in the face.” He thought about while he took a sip of his coffee, and then he choked as it burnt down his throat. “It’s the second,” he said, the decision almost lost with the gasp of pain which escaped him.
“No, that’s just the pain talking,” said Kyuhyun casually, taking a seat opposite him, just out of reach should Heechul decide that he actually would like to punch him in the face. Heechul was remarkably good at carrying out threats. “So what was the lecture about this time?”
“Oh, you know.” Heechul poked at the food that the chef had put aside for them before he left for the morning. He peeled the label off his own covered up plate and swapped it with the label from Yehsung’s. “How being part of this family means that we aren’t allowed to have any fun, and how our duty comes first and how that means that we aren’t allowed to stay late at bars and drink.”
“You got drunk,” said Kyuhyun flatly.
“No,” said Heechul. “Listen to me, Kyuhyun. We drank, we didn’t get drunk.”
“There’s a difference?”
“Yes,” said Heechul. “Look, we weren’t even drunk. Our contact just didn’t turn up, and we were in bar, so we had a drink. So you can tell all the other girls that it wasn’t anything serious.”
“It was Zhou Mi who was bothered,” said Kyuhyun with a shrug.
“Seasoning is actually a twelve year old girl in a twenty-one year olds body,” said Heechul with a grin.
“You don’t have to tell me,” said Kyuhyun, sighing. “I already know that. He sent me on this - I don’t even know, mission or something to find out what was going on. Said that he wouldn’t know how to do it delicately, and so I had to go.”
“Oh, you managed that,” said Heechul sarcastically. “Just coming out and asking, that was exactly what Seasoning meant.”
“If it had been up to him to find out, you’d still be trying to work out what his super secret code words were,” said Kyuhyun indifferently. “It’s hard enough understanding Zhou Mi at the best of times, never mind when he’s trying to be subtle.”
Heechul snorted. “Tell the little girl that it’s none of his business, but if he really has to know, it’s simply because we were late back from a meeting.” He took another sip of his coffee, now cool enough to drink safely, and then shouted at Kyuhyun’s back, “And tell him that I called him a little girl!”
Kyuhyun smiled slightly as he made his way down the corridors to the rooms that he shared with Zhou Mi. Most of the time he was glad that they were granted the privacy of rooms so far from the main part of the estate, with the kitchen and dining rooms and meeting rooms, but sometimes (and mostly at times like this) he hated it with a vengeance, because it meant that Zhou Mi made him go get things while he lay around in bed - which he was doing with considerable style when Kyuhyun came back in.
“Here,” he said, and threw the bottle of still water at Zhou Mi’s head. The older man sat up suddenly, brought out of his doze by the unyielding plastic. He blinked slowly at Kyuhyun, and then frowned.
“Did you just throw this at my head?” he asked, sounding as though he was unsure as to what had just happened.
“You say that like it’s not a perfectly normal thing to do,” said Kyuhyun, stripping his vest top off in order to get dressed for the day.
“It hurt,” said Zhou Mi with a pout, unscrewing the lid and taking a sip.
“Heechul called you a little girl,” said Kyuhyun casually, pulling a white shirt over his shoulders. He had timed it perfectly - Zhou Mi choked on the mouthful of water he was swallowing and coughed harshly, clutching his throat.
“He called me what?” he gasped.
“A little girl,” said Kyuhyun. “He said that he and Hankyung were only called in because they were late back from a meeting, and that you’re really a twelve year old and that you gossip.”
“He’s so mean,” said Zhou Mi, in almost a wail.
“No, it’s true,” reassured Kyuhyun, turning around to flash him a grin. Zhou Mi raised his arm as if to throw the bottle of water at him, and then stopped, because it was likely to miss and hit the mirror instead, and that meant seven years bad luck.
“Do you have a job today?” he asked instead.
“Disturbances near Im’s place,” said Kyuhyun, pulling a black tie out of the wardrobe. “Some guys making nuisances of themselves. I’m going down with Sungmin to put a stop to it before it gets too out of hand.”
“Okay,” said Zhou Mi, and was silent for the minute or so that it took Kyuhyun to finish getting ready. “Be careful,” he said, when Kyuhyun was near the door, slipping his mobile phone in his pocket. Kyuhyun grinned at him.
“I will,” he said. “You be careful too, in your job of lounging around for the day. Don’t choke to death on too many sugar coated marshmallows or whatever it is you bought the other day.”
“Don’t,” protested Zhou Mi. “I just worry - after what happened, I-”
“I know,” said Kyuhyun. “Look, I - Heechul was right, you are a girl.”
The bottle of water hit the closed door; Kyuhyun laughed gleefully; Zhou Mi screamed in frustration and buried his face under his pillow.
***
“Look, I just think that it would be a waste if we went home now.”
Hankyung, again, didn’t look convinced. Heechul sighed. They had finished their meeting for the day early by two hours, as the owner of the shop which had suffered a break-in the night before had been unable to give them any information about who could have been the perpetrators. Heechul and Hankyung had decided that it would be easier just to leave the situation up to the police - the shop was near enough the territorial line for them to be able to remain neutral in situations like this. Heechul was trying to convince Hankyung that they could afford to not ring Eeteuk and tell him of the early adjournment - they should actually go for a drink somewhere and relax until they had to go to the next place in their list, a bar quite near the estate which was apparently working as a venue for the trafficking of prostitutes.
“We’ve got two hours until we’re supposed to arrive at the other place,” said Heechul. “They don’t know when we’re arriving, that’s the whole point, so even if we are late, who cares? And you know as well as I do that one or two drinks isn’t going to affect us whatsoever. I don’t want to go home just in time to have to leave again.”
“But we should report to Eeteuk about what we decided here,” Hankyung pointed out.
“We can go after the other place,” said Heechul dismissively. “He’s not expecting us any time soon. We deserve to relax after getting our time wasted, again.”
“And the fact that we’re two streets away from that club where we met that guy has got nothing to do with it, has it?”
“I’m surprised you would even think that,” said Heechul, unable to conceal his grin. “The fact that you jumped to that conclusion must mean that you’ve been thinking about him. I’m shocked, Hankyung. Shocked and betrayed.”
“You say his name in your sleep,” said Hankyung, deadpan. “’Siwon’, you moan.”
“Fuck off, I don’t,” snapped Heechul. “I just want a drink. And he was nice. I wouldn’t mind meeting him again.”
“You are very lucky that I’m not the jealous type,” said Hankyung.
“If you weren’t the jealous type,” Heechul retorted, “then you’d let me go for a drink in a bar.”
Hankyung looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, and then shrugged. “Whatever,” he said. “I’m blaming you, though, if we get caught.”
“We aren’t going to get caught,” said Heechul. “Who’s going to catch us?”
“We’re going into Choi territory,” said Hankyung.
“Oh please,” said Heechul. “I know perfectly well that they come into our territory to drink. Whenever we get news of some sort of a riot or a fight, it always turns out to be some member of the Choi family. They’re always coming over here, and besides, we aren’t even going to destroy some of their property.”
“No,” said Hankyung, ironic even as he followed Heechul down the road. “We’re going to give them some of our money.”
Heechul didn’t know, when he had first put across the idea of going for a drink. He hadn’t a clue, so later, when Hankyung gave him a look of part disappointment and part disbelief, he had been able to be quite honest when he’d protested that he hadn’t known and that Hankyung should stop looking at him like that, no, seriously. Honestly, he hadn’t known that Siwon would be sitting at the bar when they entered the private room, almost in the exact same place as he had been two days earlier.
“You!” Heechul shouted, rather too loudly for Hankyung’s liking, even if they were the only people in the room this time. Siwon spun around frantically, looking terrified; the look didn’t fade any when he spotted Heechul, though Hankyung could well understand that sentiment. Heechul stalked up to him. Siwon flinched back slightly. “Don’t you do anything other than drink? It’s not healthy for you.”
Siwon seemed to relax; he smiled slowly and picked his glass up to show them the soft drink that it contained. “Just getting out of the house,” he said. “And also hoping for your pleasurable company, it’s the only reason I came back here, really.”
Heechul regarded him. “Oh, he’s good,” he said to Hankyung who had come up to them. “Really smooth.”
“Don’t you have a job?” Hankyung asked. He meant for it to be a joke, but Siwon went white, and shook his head wordlessly. “Oh,” said Hankyung, a little thrown-off.
“Not a job, as such,” said Siwon. “I - training to take over the business, it only takes a couple of hours.”
“No university?” Heechul asked, slipping onto the bar stool next to Siwon. Hankyung took the one on his other side.
“Tutored at home,” said Siwon.
“For a trading family you’re oddly well off,” said Hankyung.
“We’re fairly rich,” said Siwon with a shrug, before he grinned. “Anyway, wasn’t it supposed to be me trying to find out more about you two, not the other way around?”
“Believe me,” said Heechul. “If we don’t want you to know, then you won’t find out.”
“I’d like to know,” said Siwon, softly, in earnest - heartfelt enough for it to shock Hankyung. He could practically feel the smugness radiating off Heechul - he no doubt felt that his idea of coming here for a drink again was the best thing he’d ever suggested - but Hankyung had to wonder about that element of sincerity. Was it as true as Siwon would have him believe?
Yes, he thought, as he watched Heechul laugh with the younger boy as he attempted to gain more information. It was only the second time that he had met Siwon, but Hankyung always went with his first impressions of people, and they were usually correct. Kangin despaired whenever Hankyung used this innate belief in an attempt at swaying him, but he also trusted Hankyung enough to know what he was doing - and to be able to get himself out of any trouble that might spring up if he was wrong. Siwon, Hankyung thought, was sincere, did want to know more about them. He just didn’t know why.
“I can tell you one thing,” said Heechul with a smirk at Hankyung. “Kyungie here isn’t Korean.”
“Oh, thanks,” said Hankyung sarcastically. “Give away my life details, why don’t you?”
“I did wonder,” said Siwon. “What with the accent. It’s hard to miss, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
Hankyung glanced at Heechul and then back down at his drink. Heechul knew as well as he did that his accent was a bad thing, most of the time. There was a reason he only ever went on outings with Heechul, why Zhou Mi was never allowed on family business without someone else, why Henry had yet to actually do anything for the family that he had sworn allegiance to - their accents weren’t the same person-to-person, but they were still there, instantly recognisable. Hankyung, when on family business, was to speak only when Heechul said that it was okay to, because a weakness like that, like the language barrier that still persisted despite everything that Heechul did to overcome it, it could mark him out where he didn’t particularly want to be marked out. He knew that it was for his own safety, but he hated it, and Heechul knew it.
“Where are you from?” Siwon asked, looking interested. Hankyung thought about making him guess, denying everything like they had been doing, but Heechul raised an eyebrow at him in challenge. He wanted Hankyung to do it.
“Simply telling you would be too easy,” said Hankyung in Mandarin, with a smirk, as he leant an arm against the wooden surface of the bar. He didn’t expect Siwon to recognise the language.
“Are you from mainland China?” Siwon asked, in stilted Mandarin, nervous Mandarin that was unsure of itself, but Mandarin nonetheless. Hankyung’s arm slid from its resting place abruptly, but he was too busy staring in shock to notice.
“You know Chinese?” he asked in disbelief.
“A little,” said Siwon with a smile. “It’s was one of the few subjects that I’m allowed for myself. Everything else is for my future - Mandarin is simply because I’m interested in China.”
“It’s a beautiful country,” said Hankyung eagerly. “It’s so - you should go there, if you get the chance. You should visit, to see-”
“I don’t understand,” interrupted Heechul, folding his arms across his chest. “But you sound like you’re reminiscing. Stop it; you know what happened last time.”
Hankyung fell silent, looking at a spot over Heechul’s shoulder, towards the door. Siwon noticed the sudden tension, gave an uneasy smile, and then asked in Chinese, “What happened last time?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” said Hankyung flatly.
“I’m sorry,” said Heechul, and it hurt all the more because it was only this that Heechul apologised for, only with regards this that he ever used the word sorry for. “It’s just that I know-”
“I know,” said Hankyung. “You don’t have to - it’s just me, being stupid.”
“It’s not stupid,” said Heechul, but he let the subject drop for the moment.
“How long have you been learning Mandarin for?” Hankyung asked in Korean so that Heechul could understand, turning to Siwon. It took him a few seconds to work out that the question was directed at him - the abrupt turn in the conversation had thrown him.
“Six years,” he said. “My father went on a business trip to China and came back with presents for me. There was a DVD, subtitled in Korean. It was the first time I’d heard Chinese, and I wanted to be able to speak in myself, to be able to watch the movie without the subtitles.”
“And have you?”
“Not yet,” admitted Siwon. “Life got in the way, and I’ve never really been confident enough to try it. Still unsure as to how good my skills are.”
“They seemed fine to me,” said Hankyung. “You should try it, if you can. It helps to do things like that. I learnt a lot from watching television when I first came here.”
“When did you first come here?” Siwon asked.
Hankyung opened his mouth to answer, and then realised what he was doing - he closed it with a snap, annoyed at himself getting so carried away, just talking about China. It was stupid to be like this, despite what Heechul said. It was like voluntary torture, and it was always the same - a mention of China and he forget where he was, who he was.
Heechul caught the expression on his face, and made a show of checking his watch. “I hate to break up this cosy little chat,” he said, a smirk on his face. “But Hankyung and I have to actually be somewhere right about now.” Hankyung checked his own watch - he wasn’t lying. They had to be at the suspect nightclub in less than half an hour.
“Where?” Siwon asked.
“I’d tell you, but I’d have to kill you,” said Heechul. Siwon laughed - Heechul frowned. “No, seriously,” he said, and the laughter died in Siwon’s throat.
***
Eeteuk stopped suddenly in the middle of his work, pen paused above the piece of paper he had been signing. Kangin stopped also, looking at him curiously from his desk on the other side of the room.
“I’ve just thought,” said Eeteuk. “What if that talk we had with Heechul last night isn’t going to mean anything to him?”
“What?” asked Kangin. “You mean you’ve only just realised?”
Eeteuk choked and flung his pen down on the table. “You mean we wasted our time?”
“Eeteuk,” said Kangin patiently. “You know as well as I do that what we say to Heechul goes in one ear and out the other. He’s too close in age to us to take anything we say seriously.”
“But Hankyung,” said Eeteuk, a little incoherent suddenly. “Hankyung always listens to us - how come?”
“Because Hankyung understands the importance of the family and what it means,” said Kangin soothingly. “Heechul, on the other hand, would probably betray us for some really nice shoes.”
“But Hankyung’s with him,” said Eeteuk, slumping back slightly with relief. “Hankyung will keep him straight.”
“You mean like he did last night?” Kangin asked with a wry grin.
“Oh god,” yelped Eeteuk, snapping upright and gripping the edge of the table. “Why do we let him out of the estate, Kangin? Why?”
“Because deep down inside of him, we’re certain that there’s a nice person, just trying to get out,” said Kangin. “Why do you get like this every time he leaves for something? You know that we can really trust Heechul with our lives, I don’t understand it. You’re just causing yourself no end of stress, considering Heechul goes out a lot.”
“It’s just, that he can rub people up the wrong way?” Eeteuk looked like he wasn’t too sure of the reasons himself. “And I worry that one day we’re going to get a call saying that someone’s strangled him to death?”
“That’s why Hankyung is there,” said Kangin, turning back to his work. “Seriously, the answer to ‘is Heechul acting a little irresponsible’ is always yes, so you should really think about more important things.”
As if on cue, there was a loud bang from somewhere down the hallway, and they heard Shindong shout, “Eunhyuk, you moron!” and Donghae’s hysterical laughter. Eeteuk groaned and lay his head on the table.
“Sometimes,” said Kangin thoughtfully, “I wonder whether I’m trying to run a household, or a zoo.”
Fandom: Super Junior AU (Mafia)
Pairings: Siwon/Hankyung/Heechul (Hankyung/Heechul), Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi, Kibum/Donghae, Yehsung/Ryeowook, Kangin/Eeteuk, Tablo/Eunhyuk
Pairings in Chapter: Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi, Hankyung/Heechul, slight Kangin/Eeteuk
Word Count: 3,318
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The Kim family and the Choi family are the two oldest families in Seoul: where other families have been born, grown, and then fell apart, they remain strong. Unfortunately, they are mortal enemies, and where one lives alongside the law, the other is beyond any control. It's up to the new generation of members to destroy the violence between them - even if it means destroying one family in the process.
A/N: I really need to get another chapter out before I post anymore of these XD I feel like the 50,000 words in such a short time has actually killed me.
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2
“I heard you pissed Eeteuk and Kangin off last night,” said Kyuhyun unceremoniously the next morning, when Heechul wandered into the kitchen for some late breakfast. Heechul gaped at him for a moment.
“Seriously,” he said. “Don’t you people have better things to do than gossip about me?”
“No,” said Kyuhyun, face blank. “Seriously, our lives are so pale in comparison to yours, hyung, we have to live through yours.”
Heechul eyed him thoughtfully while he pulled a carton of milk from the fridge for his coffee. “Sometimes,” he said, “I don’t know whether I admire your bravery, or whether I simply want to punch you in the face.” He thought about while he took a sip of his coffee, and then he choked as it burnt down his throat. “It’s the second,” he said, the decision almost lost with the gasp of pain which escaped him.
“No, that’s just the pain talking,” said Kyuhyun casually, taking a seat opposite him, just out of reach should Heechul decide that he actually would like to punch him in the face. Heechul was remarkably good at carrying out threats. “So what was the lecture about this time?”
“Oh, you know.” Heechul poked at the food that the chef had put aside for them before he left for the morning. He peeled the label off his own covered up plate and swapped it with the label from Yehsung’s. “How being part of this family means that we aren’t allowed to have any fun, and how our duty comes first and how that means that we aren’t allowed to stay late at bars and drink.”
“You got drunk,” said Kyuhyun flatly.
“No,” said Heechul. “Listen to me, Kyuhyun. We drank, we didn’t get drunk.”
“There’s a difference?”
“Yes,” said Heechul. “Look, we weren’t even drunk. Our contact just didn’t turn up, and we were in bar, so we had a drink. So you can tell all the other girls that it wasn’t anything serious.”
“It was Zhou Mi who was bothered,” said Kyuhyun with a shrug.
“Seasoning is actually a twelve year old girl in a twenty-one year olds body,” said Heechul with a grin.
“You don’t have to tell me,” said Kyuhyun, sighing. “I already know that. He sent me on this - I don’t even know, mission or something to find out what was going on. Said that he wouldn’t know how to do it delicately, and so I had to go.”
“Oh, you managed that,” said Heechul sarcastically. “Just coming out and asking, that was exactly what Seasoning meant.”
“If it had been up to him to find out, you’d still be trying to work out what his super secret code words were,” said Kyuhyun indifferently. “It’s hard enough understanding Zhou Mi at the best of times, never mind when he’s trying to be subtle.”
Heechul snorted. “Tell the little girl that it’s none of his business, but if he really has to know, it’s simply because we were late back from a meeting.” He took another sip of his coffee, now cool enough to drink safely, and then shouted at Kyuhyun’s back, “And tell him that I called him a little girl!”
Kyuhyun smiled slightly as he made his way down the corridors to the rooms that he shared with Zhou Mi. Most of the time he was glad that they were granted the privacy of rooms so far from the main part of the estate, with the kitchen and dining rooms and meeting rooms, but sometimes (and mostly at times like this) he hated it with a vengeance, because it meant that Zhou Mi made him go get things while he lay around in bed - which he was doing with considerable style when Kyuhyun came back in.
“Here,” he said, and threw the bottle of still water at Zhou Mi’s head. The older man sat up suddenly, brought out of his doze by the unyielding plastic. He blinked slowly at Kyuhyun, and then frowned.
“Did you just throw this at my head?” he asked, sounding as though he was unsure as to what had just happened.
“You say that like it’s not a perfectly normal thing to do,” said Kyuhyun, stripping his vest top off in order to get dressed for the day.
“It hurt,” said Zhou Mi with a pout, unscrewing the lid and taking a sip.
“Heechul called you a little girl,” said Kyuhyun casually, pulling a white shirt over his shoulders. He had timed it perfectly - Zhou Mi choked on the mouthful of water he was swallowing and coughed harshly, clutching his throat.
“He called me what?” he gasped.
“A little girl,” said Kyuhyun. “He said that he and Hankyung were only called in because they were late back from a meeting, and that you’re really a twelve year old and that you gossip.”
“He’s so mean,” said Zhou Mi, in almost a wail.
“No, it’s true,” reassured Kyuhyun, turning around to flash him a grin. Zhou Mi raised his arm as if to throw the bottle of water at him, and then stopped, because it was likely to miss and hit the mirror instead, and that meant seven years bad luck.
“Do you have a job today?” he asked instead.
“Disturbances near Im’s place,” said Kyuhyun, pulling a black tie out of the wardrobe. “Some guys making nuisances of themselves. I’m going down with Sungmin to put a stop to it before it gets too out of hand.”
“Okay,” said Zhou Mi, and was silent for the minute or so that it took Kyuhyun to finish getting ready. “Be careful,” he said, when Kyuhyun was near the door, slipping his mobile phone in his pocket. Kyuhyun grinned at him.
“I will,” he said. “You be careful too, in your job of lounging around for the day. Don’t choke to death on too many sugar coated marshmallows or whatever it is you bought the other day.”
“Don’t,” protested Zhou Mi. “I just worry - after what happened, I-”
“I know,” said Kyuhyun. “Look, I - Heechul was right, you are a girl.”
The bottle of water hit the closed door; Kyuhyun laughed gleefully; Zhou Mi screamed in frustration and buried his face under his pillow.
***
“Look, I just think that it would be a waste if we went home now.”
Hankyung, again, didn’t look convinced. Heechul sighed. They had finished their meeting for the day early by two hours, as the owner of the shop which had suffered a break-in the night before had been unable to give them any information about who could have been the perpetrators. Heechul and Hankyung had decided that it would be easier just to leave the situation up to the police - the shop was near enough the territorial line for them to be able to remain neutral in situations like this. Heechul was trying to convince Hankyung that they could afford to not ring Eeteuk and tell him of the early adjournment - they should actually go for a drink somewhere and relax until they had to go to the next place in their list, a bar quite near the estate which was apparently working as a venue for the trafficking of prostitutes.
“We’ve got two hours until we’re supposed to arrive at the other place,” said Heechul. “They don’t know when we’re arriving, that’s the whole point, so even if we are late, who cares? And you know as well as I do that one or two drinks isn’t going to affect us whatsoever. I don’t want to go home just in time to have to leave again.”
“But we should report to Eeteuk about what we decided here,” Hankyung pointed out.
“We can go after the other place,” said Heechul dismissively. “He’s not expecting us any time soon. We deserve to relax after getting our time wasted, again.”
“And the fact that we’re two streets away from that club where we met that guy has got nothing to do with it, has it?”
“I’m surprised you would even think that,” said Heechul, unable to conceal his grin. “The fact that you jumped to that conclusion must mean that you’ve been thinking about him. I’m shocked, Hankyung. Shocked and betrayed.”
“You say his name in your sleep,” said Hankyung, deadpan. “’Siwon’, you moan.”
“Fuck off, I don’t,” snapped Heechul. “I just want a drink. And he was nice. I wouldn’t mind meeting him again.”
“You are very lucky that I’m not the jealous type,” said Hankyung.
“If you weren’t the jealous type,” Heechul retorted, “then you’d let me go for a drink in a bar.”
Hankyung looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, and then shrugged. “Whatever,” he said. “I’m blaming you, though, if we get caught.”
“We aren’t going to get caught,” said Heechul. “Who’s going to catch us?”
“We’re going into Choi territory,” said Hankyung.
“Oh please,” said Heechul. “I know perfectly well that they come into our territory to drink. Whenever we get news of some sort of a riot or a fight, it always turns out to be some member of the Choi family. They’re always coming over here, and besides, we aren’t even going to destroy some of their property.”
“No,” said Hankyung, ironic even as he followed Heechul down the road. “We’re going to give them some of our money.”
Heechul didn’t know, when he had first put across the idea of going for a drink. He hadn’t a clue, so later, when Hankyung gave him a look of part disappointment and part disbelief, he had been able to be quite honest when he’d protested that he hadn’t known and that Hankyung should stop looking at him like that, no, seriously. Honestly, he hadn’t known that Siwon would be sitting at the bar when they entered the private room, almost in the exact same place as he had been two days earlier.
“You!” Heechul shouted, rather too loudly for Hankyung’s liking, even if they were the only people in the room this time. Siwon spun around frantically, looking terrified; the look didn’t fade any when he spotted Heechul, though Hankyung could well understand that sentiment. Heechul stalked up to him. Siwon flinched back slightly. “Don’t you do anything other than drink? It’s not healthy for you.”
Siwon seemed to relax; he smiled slowly and picked his glass up to show them the soft drink that it contained. “Just getting out of the house,” he said. “And also hoping for your pleasurable company, it’s the only reason I came back here, really.”
Heechul regarded him. “Oh, he’s good,” he said to Hankyung who had come up to them. “Really smooth.”
“Don’t you have a job?” Hankyung asked. He meant for it to be a joke, but Siwon went white, and shook his head wordlessly. “Oh,” said Hankyung, a little thrown-off.
“Not a job, as such,” said Siwon. “I - training to take over the business, it only takes a couple of hours.”
“No university?” Heechul asked, slipping onto the bar stool next to Siwon. Hankyung took the one on his other side.
“Tutored at home,” said Siwon.
“For a trading family you’re oddly well off,” said Hankyung.
“We’re fairly rich,” said Siwon with a shrug, before he grinned. “Anyway, wasn’t it supposed to be me trying to find out more about you two, not the other way around?”
“Believe me,” said Heechul. “If we don’t want you to know, then you won’t find out.”
“I’d like to know,” said Siwon, softly, in earnest - heartfelt enough for it to shock Hankyung. He could practically feel the smugness radiating off Heechul - he no doubt felt that his idea of coming here for a drink again was the best thing he’d ever suggested - but Hankyung had to wonder about that element of sincerity. Was it as true as Siwon would have him believe?
Yes, he thought, as he watched Heechul laugh with the younger boy as he attempted to gain more information. It was only the second time that he had met Siwon, but Hankyung always went with his first impressions of people, and they were usually correct. Kangin despaired whenever Hankyung used this innate belief in an attempt at swaying him, but he also trusted Hankyung enough to know what he was doing - and to be able to get himself out of any trouble that might spring up if he was wrong. Siwon, Hankyung thought, was sincere, did want to know more about them. He just didn’t know why.
“I can tell you one thing,” said Heechul with a smirk at Hankyung. “Kyungie here isn’t Korean.”
“Oh, thanks,” said Hankyung sarcastically. “Give away my life details, why don’t you?”
“I did wonder,” said Siwon. “What with the accent. It’s hard to miss, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
Hankyung glanced at Heechul and then back down at his drink. Heechul knew as well as he did that his accent was a bad thing, most of the time. There was a reason he only ever went on outings with Heechul, why Zhou Mi was never allowed on family business without someone else, why Henry had yet to actually do anything for the family that he had sworn allegiance to - their accents weren’t the same person-to-person, but they were still there, instantly recognisable. Hankyung, when on family business, was to speak only when Heechul said that it was okay to, because a weakness like that, like the language barrier that still persisted despite everything that Heechul did to overcome it, it could mark him out where he didn’t particularly want to be marked out. He knew that it was for his own safety, but he hated it, and Heechul knew it.
“Where are you from?” Siwon asked, looking interested. Hankyung thought about making him guess, denying everything like they had been doing, but Heechul raised an eyebrow at him in challenge. He wanted Hankyung to do it.
“Simply telling you would be too easy,” said Hankyung in Mandarin, with a smirk, as he leant an arm against the wooden surface of the bar. He didn’t expect Siwon to recognise the language.
“Are you from mainland China?” Siwon asked, in stilted Mandarin, nervous Mandarin that was unsure of itself, but Mandarin nonetheless. Hankyung’s arm slid from its resting place abruptly, but he was too busy staring in shock to notice.
“You know Chinese?” he asked in disbelief.
“A little,” said Siwon with a smile. “It’s was one of the few subjects that I’m allowed for myself. Everything else is for my future - Mandarin is simply because I’m interested in China.”
“It’s a beautiful country,” said Hankyung eagerly. “It’s so - you should go there, if you get the chance. You should visit, to see-”
“I don’t understand,” interrupted Heechul, folding his arms across his chest. “But you sound like you’re reminiscing. Stop it; you know what happened last time.”
Hankyung fell silent, looking at a spot over Heechul’s shoulder, towards the door. Siwon noticed the sudden tension, gave an uneasy smile, and then asked in Chinese, “What happened last time?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” said Hankyung flatly.
“I’m sorry,” said Heechul, and it hurt all the more because it was only this that Heechul apologised for, only with regards this that he ever used the word sorry for. “It’s just that I know-”
“I know,” said Hankyung. “You don’t have to - it’s just me, being stupid.”
“It’s not stupid,” said Heechul, but he let the subject drop for the moment.
“How long have you been learning Mandarin for?” Hankyung asked in Korean so that Heechul could understand, turning to Siwon. It took him a few seconds to work out that the question was directed at him - the abrupt turn in the conversation had thrown him.
“Six years,” he said. “My father went on a business trip to China and came back with presents for me. There was a DVD, subtitled in Korean. It was the first time I’d heard Chinese, and I wanted to be able to speak in myself, to be able to watch the movie without the subtitles.”
“And have you?”
“Not yet,” admitted Siwon. “Life got in the way, and I’ve never really been confident enough to try it. Still unsure as to how good my skills are.”
“They seemed fine to me,” said Hankyung. “You should try it, if you can. It helps to do things like that. I learnt a lot from watching television when I first came here.”
“When did you first come here?” Siwon asked.
Hankyung opened his mouth to answer, and then realised what he was doing - he closed it with a snap, annoyed at himself getting so carried away, just talking about China. It was stupid to be like this, despite what Heechul said. It was like voluntary torture, and it was always the same - a mention of China and he forget where he was, who he was.
Heechul caught the expression on his face, and made a show of checking his watch. “I hate to break up this cosy little chat,” he said, a smirk on his face. “But Hankyung and I have to actually be somewhere right about now.” Hankyung checked his own watch - he wasn’t lying. They had to be at the suspect nightclub in less than half an hour.
“Where?” Siwon asked.
“I’d tell you, but I’d have to kill you,” said Heechul. Siwon laughed - Heechul frowned. “No, seriously,” he said, and the laughter died in Siwon’s throat.
***
Eeteuk stopped suddenly in the middle of his work, pen paused above the piece of paper he had been signing. Kangin stopped also, looking at him curiously from his desk on the other side of the room.
“I’ve just thought,” said Eeteuk. “What if that talk we had with Heechul last night isn’t going to mean anything to him?”
“What?” asked Kangin. “You mean you’ve only just realised?”
Eeteuk choked and flung his pen down on the table. “You mean we wasted our time?”
“Eeteuk,” said Kangin patiently. “You know as well as I do that what we say to Heechul goes in one ear and out the other. He’s too close in age to us to take anything we say seriously.”
“But Hankyung,” said Eeteuk, a little incoherent suddenly. “Hankyung always listens to us - how come?”
“Because Hankyung understands the importance of the family and what it means,” said Kangin soothingly. “Heechul, on the other hand, would probably betray us for some really nice shoes.”
“But Hankyung’s with him,” said Eeteuk, slumping back slightly with relief. “Hankyung will keep him straight.”
“You mean like he did last night?” Kangin asked with a wry grin.
“Oh god,” yelped Eeteuk, snapping upright and gripping the edge of the table. “Why do we let him out of the estate, Kangin? Why?”
“Because deep down inside of him, we’re certain that there’s a nice person, just trying to get out,” said Kangin. “Why do you get like this every time he leaves for something? You know that we can really trust Heechul with our lives, I don’t understand it. You’re just causing yourself no end of stress, considering Heechul goes out a lot.”
“It’s just, that he can rub people up the wrong way?” Eeteuk looked like he wasn’t too sure of the reasons himself. “And I worry that one day we’re going to get a call saying that someone’s strangled him to death?”
“That’s why Hankyung is there,” said Kangin, turning back to his work. “Seriously, the answer to ‘is Heechul acting a little irresponsible’ is always yes, so you should really think about more important things.”
As if on cue, there was a loud bang from somewhere down the hallway, and they heard Shindong shout, “Eunhyuk, you moron!” and Donghae’s hysterical laughter. Eeteuk groaned and lay his head on the table.
“Sometimes,” said Kangin thoughtfully, “I wonder whether I’m trying to run a household, or a zoo.”