Super Junior {Hankyung/Heechul ; Run (5/13)}

[black_goose]

Title: Run (5/13)
Fandom: Super Junior (AU)
Pairing: Hankyung/Heechul
Word count: 4,037
Rating: R (for violence and mature themes)
Summary: Hankyung and Heechul have been living together for four years now, and their relationship seems pretty much perfect. However, Hankyung has more skeletons in his closet than he has let on, and now his past is about to rear its ugly head in the worst way possible. The thing about lies is that they're remarkably difficult to ignore.
A/N: the song linked to in this chapter REALLY fits, I'm surprised. It's just perfect, it's amazing. idk, this chapter is kind of cute after the last chapter XDD I like flashbacks to when things were great, what can I say? Heechul's car. And just for reference, Hankyung's car, only he owns it in silver.

Run (5/13)
Hankyung wanted to be able to see if Heechul tried to leave the hotel. It was the one thing he could not allow Heechul to do; going home would be far too dangerous. He didn't know how he would stop Heechul if he tried -- the fact that he still had the car keys would probably help -- but he would try anyway. He sat in the diner, drinking disgusting cups of coffee until it shut around midnight. He was the only one left at that time. He left, walked back slowly to the hotel. Heechul hadn't appeared. It didn't look like he was going to leave today, though he might attempt it tomorrow, once the trains were running again. Hankyung sat on the bench on the grass outside the hotel, hunched his shoulders up against the cold, and prepared to wait.



THE SCIENTIST - Coldplay

The mail room was not exactly the most exciting place to be in the world, but it was quiet, and there was no one else there. After a couple of months spent in near isolation, even the quiet chatter of his office seemed a little too loud, grated on his nerves a little too much. He flicked through the pile of post that he'd brought down with him, inserting them into the relevant boxes -- or at least what he thought might be the correct slot, since he wasn't too sure about the Korean. Hopefully they'd get to where they needed to be. He was ruefully thinking that he probably couldn't afford to get fired just because his Korean comprehension was a off when there was the sound of knuckles rapping against the door.

"Excuse me...?" Hankyung turned around and his eyes landed on a man standing in the doorway. His features had a touch of femininity about them which was strange, interesting; it kept Hankyung's attention, in any case. He could not look away. His hair, black, was long, falling to just above his shoulders. He wore red glasses, frames disappearing behind his ears, and tight, black and white checkered jeans, black t-shirt, red converse. It was so totally different to the muted greys and dark colours that made up the people Hankyung worked with that he couldn't help but stare; that and the fact that this man was just so good to simply look at.

Hankyung snapped himself out of it before the silence could because awkward. "Can I help you?" he asked politely, putting the mail in his hands down on a nearby table.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm looking for the advertising department? I think I must be a little lost." The man's smile was sheepish and self-deprecating. Hankyung's own smile in return was friendly.

"It's a couple of floors above. I'll walk you."

The man's eyebrows rose. "Are you sure?" he asked, skeptical. "I wouldn't want to pull you from your work."

"I'd be happy for the distraction." The man stepped back to let Hankyung out of the room, and Hankyung motioned to his right. "This way."

It would have been easy enough to just direct the man to the department, which was literally just on the third floor, straight out of the lift, but he'd made a spur of the moment decision based on liking the way this man looked, and now he couldn't think of anything to say. The silence grew into awkward territory. They walked through the hallways, Hankyung's eyes flicking from the hall in front of him, to where the man's hands, long fingered and he swore manicured, kept a hold on his bag over his shoulder to stop it slipping off and down his arm. Hankyung was just being creepy, in all honesty. The man walking quietly next to him was attractive in a way that Hankyung had never experienced before; his whole body was calling out at it. He was just trying to work out how to exchange names without coming across as too weird and intrusive when the entered the brightly lit reception, and a man in a suit spotted them and called out to the man next to Hankyung.

"Heechul-ah? There you are! We've been looking for you!"

The man next to Hankyung didn't smile, but Hankyung got the feeling that that wasn't an indicator of his emotions. "I got lost," he said, "ended up in the post room."

"Well, it's a good job that...?" The man, probably one of the floor managers, looked curiously at Hankyung.

"Hankyung, sir," Hankyung said. "From the accountancy department."

"Well, it's a good job that Hankyul found you," said the man happily. Hankyung winced, but didn't correct his name. Better to just let it go. He saw the man next to him, Heechul or something like it, glance at him, and sensed some amusement in it. Hankyung fought down a grin as the man was led away to the advertisement department. Was he there for an interview? No, the manager had known him. A new employee? Not dressed like that. Hankyung was left in the dark.

He was in the dark, a place that he really didn't like being, right up until a couple of weeks later when the new company information came out. Hankyung grabbed a copy simply because he was new and still a little unsure as to quite what this company did; the job had, after all, just been handed to him. After reading it, he still didn't really have any idea as to what the company did -- something about insurance, or was it finance -- but he did have a reason for the man from the mail room to be there. Right at the back of the booklet, written by Kim Heechul. Hankyung had a full name. He had an address, or at least a business address, and a telephone number. What he didn't have was the guts to do anything about it.

Things went on for a month until it was time for the Christmas company party; by dropping some cleverly subtle hints -- Hankyung wasn't too sure how he achieved it -- he managed to convince the people who were organizing it to invite the guy who had write the company information. It was the only reason Hankyung decided to go to the party: it was in an upmarket hotel, with waiters carrying trays of champagne and a strict dress code, with shiny floors and high ceilings. Hankyung felt awkward and completely out of place, and after an hour at the party, there had been no sign of the man from the mail room. Hankyung had drunk a couple of free glasses of champagne, staved off the drunken advances of a female co-worker, and was about ready to just go home and forget it all. The man clearly decided that it wasn't in his interest in coming to a party like this. Hankyung didn't blame him.



He was just about to place his half empty glass on a nearby table and leave when he caught sight of the man, quite by chance, standing against the opposite wall. There was a momentary gaping and he almost dropped his glass in surprise. The man looked bored, indifferent; he was twirling the stem of an empty glass between his fingers. His hair had been pulled back into a half ponytail, the casualness set off against a soft grey suit and a number of bright scarfs wound around his neck in lieu of a tie.

Hankyung saw his chance. He grabbed a glass of champagne from the tray of a waiter and forced his way through the crowd to Heechul. He wasn't looking in Hankyung's direction when he neared, and he held out the glass so it intruded into his line of vision. "You look," he said, as the man snapped his gaze to the glass, eyes surprised, "as bored as I feel."

Heechul smirked. "No," he drawled. "I'm having a whale of time, I don't know how you can't tell." He took the glass from Hankyung, who stared at his hands, then looked at his face; he was wearing eyeliner. He was just as good looking as Hankyung remembered.

"I'm Hankyung," he said, and held out his free hand. Heechul curled his fingers around his own and shook.

"Heechul," he said, and Hankyung had to stop himself from answering with "I know". He couldn't quite keep his smile off his face: he hoped it looked pleasant and friendly, not slightly creepy.

"Do you work here?" Hankyung asked casually, perfectly aware that he didn't. Heechul shook his head.

"I wrote the company leaflets and things. My greatest works thus far." He rolled his eyes as Hankyung laughed. "You read them?"

"Of course," Hankyung said. "Well, I'm fairly new here, I figured reading them might help me get a promotion."

Heechul was looking at him rather closely, then relaxed his shoulders back somewhat. "You're not Korean?" Hankyung, kind of nervous, shook his head. "I didn't think so. You've got quite the accent. Chinese?"

"Yeah," Hankyung confirmed, a little cautiously. He probably would never get used to how much he was allowed to relay to people.

"I knew someone from China at university. He had a similar accent."

"Your language is hard," Hankyung said wryly.

"Funnily enough," Heechul said, "that's what I said when he tried to teach me yours."

Hankyung turned the conversation to Heechul's work. It turned out that he was a novelist who had "sold out" (Heechul's words) by writing company propaganda and the like for businesses while he attempted to make a name for himself as a serious writer.

"My first novel is going through the final editing stages right now, should be able to never have to write about company motto's every again."

"I thought you did very well. I don't even know the motto and you made me happy to work here."

"Wow, you're patronizing."

"I'm sorry," Hankyung said with a laugh. "I don't mean to be."

Heechul hid a smile against the rim of his champagne glass. "I promise you, I write much better fiction." Hankyung inclined his head. "So you work for this company?"

"Yes, you--" Hankyung quickly caught himself and stopped. Heechul clearly didn't recognise him from the mail room. "I'm in the accountancy department." Hankyung wasn't too sure why he kept saying it like that. Maybe he was trying to convince himself that that was his life now.

"You don't look like an accountant," Heechul said, a twinge of something wicked in his voice. "Far too good looking."

Hankyung fought down his grin yet again. "Well, you do look like a writer. Foot loose. Fancy free." He had his lips curled around the edge of his own glass when he added, "Gorgeous."

Heechul burst into delighted laughter. "Smooth," he said, as Hankyung continued to smile as he sipped at his champagne. "Nice, I like it."

Hankyung fairly beamed. "You do?"

Heechul nodded. "I do."

They both left early. It wasn't the kind of party that either of them were used to. Hankyung had only ever been to silly ones in friend's apartments, drunken incidents and casual, fun affairs. Heechul said that his own experience of parties tended to involve a lot less clothing, then added that his university roommate had been a bit of a slut when Hankyung raised his eyebrows at him. They left before they had a chance to see Gikyu from Hankyung's department do a striptease in the middle of the dance floor, as Hankyung was informed the next day. The poor woman resigned soon after Christmas.

Hankyung picked up Heechul's coat when he was handed his own, and offered it to him. Heechul took it, and slipped it over his shoulders. Hankyung cleared his throat and asked, nervously, "I was wondering -- do you -- would you like to exchange phone numbers?"

"Only if you call me to ask me out for dinner," Heechul said seriously. Hankyung's face broke into a smile of relief.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, of course I will."

It was cold now, almost painfully so -- he was only wearing his suit. Hankyung hadn't checked his watch for a while, but last time it had been after 1AM. His teeth were chattering so hard that it hurt, but at least the pain was keeping him from falling asleep. The only sign of movement from the hotel had been a couple of drunk guys going in to it. He tried to pull his hands further into his sleeves, then snapped his head to the door at the sign of movement. Light from inside hid features, but he recognised the body shape at least. "What the fuck are you doing," Heechul snapped.

"Repenting," Hankyung said, but he was shivering too much to really get the word out, so what Heechul actually heard was a mystery.

"You'll freeze to death out here," Heechul said. "Why the fuck are you just sitting there?"

"You said to get out," Hankyung said, pulling himself together and managing to be semi-coherent.

"I didn't tell you to kill yourself, did I? Fuck's sake." He stood there for a minute, and then sighed. "Come on, then. Get back inside."

"Huh?"

"Well, you can't sleep out here, can you?"

Hankyung stood up. He'd been sitting in the same position for too long in the cold; his knee joints cracked as he straightened them. He didn't say another word -- for fear that Heechul would change his mind -- until Heechul was unlocking the door to the room that they'd bought. "I'm sorry, Heechul," he said quietly.

"I know," Heechul said, even quieter.

"Tomorrow I'll drive you to a friend's house," Hankyung said as Heechul pushed the door open. "You'll probably be okay if you keep a low head, it's really just me they're after."

Heechul waited until he was standing shivering in the room before he shut the door and turned to him to say; "Hankyung, I'm not going anywhere."

"What do you mean?"

Heechul sighed. "We'll talk about it in the morning, okay? Come on." Hankyung was still a little too out of it, too cold and tired, to think about what needed to be done, so Heechul stripped him of his jacket and shirt and then guided him down onto the bed, pulling the covers over them. "Fuck, you're cold," he said, scooting up so Hankyung's back was against his chest. "You're stupid, you know that?" Hankyung didn't answer, because he was already asleep.

Although it had been a late night, it was still fairly early when Hankyung woke up. Something haunting him in his dreams jerked him away and then he was too on edge to fall back into oblivion. He lay awake for a long while, Heechul's body warm against his side. If it wasn't for the fact that Heechul would not have a way of getting back to Seoul, Hankyung would get dressed right now and drive away and remove Heechul from the entire equation.

As if he could sense Hankyung's thoughts, Heechul stirred. It usually took him forever to wake up, but the change of scenery clearly shocked him into waking up quickly. "Where am I?" he asked, blinking at Hankyung. Then the confusion dulled from his eyes. "Oh."

"We should get ready," Hankyung said. "I want to make it as far south as possible, and I need to drop you at Sungmin's or someone's beforehand."

"You're not leaving me with Sungmin," Heechul said. "I had enough of living with him during university."

"Well, whose house do you want to be dropped off at?"

"No one," Heechul said, wrapping his fingers around Hankyung's forearm. Something flashed in the dim light coming through the curtains and Hankyung looked down to see that the ring that Heechul had dropped on the floor the night before was back on his finger. Warmth and hope spread through his body. "I told you last night, I'm not going anywhere."

"What?"

"I thought about it, Hankyung, while you were being a moron and freezing yourself to death. I can't -- yeah, it's a surprise. You were supposed to be -- perfect. You were perfect! And now you're just not. I can't -- it's hard to take in. The thing is, though, I love you, Hankyung. You're kind of -- I can't go back now. Not to how I was, not without you."

"Heechul, I only brought you here because I was scared of what would happen if you went home yesterday. There are -- some papers in the glove compartment of my car. You'll get control over all my assets, all my money, a significant payout if I--"

"If you die."

"Yeah," Hankyung said, exhaling heavily. "If I die."

"So you expect me to hang around with my friends, go on with my life, knowing that somewhere generally in Korea, you're fighting for your life. But it's okay, because if you die, I should at least get enough money to never have to work again, is that it?"

"Don't, Heechul."

"Don't what?"

"Don't make this harder than it has to be," Hankyung said, sitting up and resting his head against his bent knees. "I've been prepared for this moment ever since we began dating. I've had my will drawn up ever since you moved in. I never thought he would be released, but I had to be prepared for when it did. I feel -- it's like a physical sickness, Heechul, sometimes when I look at you and know that thanks to me, you could be -- that you're in danger, thanks to me. I just want you to be safe."

"I can't be safer than with you," Heechul said, sitting up and draping himself over Hankyung's back. "I know you, Hankyung. You'll be too busy worrying about how I'm getting on to take care of yourself, and then you'll be dead."

"If you come with me--"

"I'll be able to keep an eye on you," Heechul said, with an air of that simply being that. "I'm coming with you, Hankyung."

"Heechul," Hankyung said, not so much patient as ridiculously exasperated. "I don't think you understand quite what--"

"Some crazy ass Chinese guy is on the hunt for you because you got him sent down for murder," Heechul said, almost bored. "We need to go on the run, scared for our lives, and will encounter endless dangers, etcetera. I know, Hankyung. I get it."

"And you...want to come with me?"

"God, Hankyung, you'd think these rings didn't mean forever or something."

Hankyung smiled, then turned to kiss him. "I hope we get forever," he said sincerely.

The diner was a little busier in the mornings, but it still wasn't too difficult to find a seat. They sat as far from other people as they could, order their meal, and when it arrived, bent their heads together so that none of the other people eating breakfast could hear their conversation. "Much as it pains me to say this," Hankyung said, "we should probably go and get your car and use that."

Heechul stared at him, a forkful of waffles held to his mouth. "But you hate my car," he said.

Hankyung winced. This was nothing but the truth. Heechul owned a 1967 Chevy Impala. It was red, it was a classic, and it looked more at home on the endless roads of America than in the middle of Seoul. Hankyung hated it, not simply because it didn't even have cassette player, but because it was hard to drive and, Hankyung thought, kind of ugly. Heechul adored it, because he thought it looked perfect. It looked the part -- he didn't care that he could only get three radio stations and two of them were quiz stations. He just stuck his iPod in his ear, or better yet, listened to the sighs of envy coming from outside, all those people who didn't own the car.

"I know," Hankyung admitted. "But they'll know my car by now. Yours is more easily recognisable, but they won't be looking for it."

"We get to go on a road-trip in my Impala!" Heechul said happily. "It's like my dreams are coming true!"

"A road-trip where we'll be fighting for our lives," Hankyung reminded him.

"Some added danger never hurt anyone."

"Heechul, I really think--"

"Look," Heechul said, and when he looked at Hankyung his eyes were kind of wide and there was something in them that made Hankyung want to just tell him that it was all a lie and a test and that none of it was true. "I know, okay? I know, we're on the run for our lives and it's not funny and you're -- there's a guy trying to kill us, I know all that." There was a hint of hysteria in his voice. His voice had gone up in pitch and when he continued he was talking so fast that Hankyung had trouble working out what he was saying. "And I know that I'm going to have to somehow get news to my friends so that they don't worry and what am I supposed to say, anyway, that the guy that they never liked that much anyway is actually on the run from psychopathic murderers and they're after the both of us so I need to go with him even though you never thought that he was good enough for me, and oh my god my parents, how am I supposed to explain this to my --"

"Heechul," Hankyung said, noticing that a couple of people were looking curiously at them. "Heechul, calm down, okay? There's -- until it's over, there's nothing you can do."

"When will it be over? How will we know?"

"I don't know," admitted Hankyung. "He can't be arrested until he does something. It took months to get him in China -- it'll be even harder for the Korean police. We could be running from him for years, it could never end."

Heechul stared at him. "And you were going to do this by yourself?" he asked.

"That was the plan," Hankyung said, rather lamely.

"Hankyung. Why don't we just go to the police?"

"I did." Hankyung sighed, heavily. "Sunday night, when I disappeared, I went to the station. I took all the letters he'd sent me with me, but they basically just laughed at me. They didn't even believe me. They didn't think there was any way that he could get into the country -- and even if he was, what could they do? They can't arrest someone just for being in the country. He'll kill us, Heechul, before the police can do anything about it."

"But the Chinese police--"

Hankyung narrowed his eyes. "They're the ones who let him out," he said darkly.

"Oh. I see." Heechul picked at his food, then stopped, suddenly, eyes going wide. "My bike!" he shrieked. Hankyung shushed him quickly, though he'd been expecting this. Heechul's vintage motorbike was something he'd been working on on and off for the past year or so, and it was a project that he simply refused to give up. "No, Hankyung, my bike, what'll happen to it if I'm not there to pay the storage!"

"I paid him for another year yesterday," Hankyung soothed. "When that's up, we'll just have to figure something else out."

"You knew this would -- wait, yesterday? You mean -- when?"

Hankyung ducked his head. "After you told me to get out of the room," he said quietly, staring at his meal. "I ended up here. I paid for the motorbike storage, I transferred most of my money into our joint account, I arranged for my paycheck to be put into the joint account, then I tried to take my name off the joint account but apparently I need to be there in person or something--"

"And how," Heechul interrupted, glaring at him, "were you going to eat on this grand escape?"

Hankyung shrugged. "I'd have worked something out. I still have about two million won in my account afterwards, I'd have survived on that somehow."

"I don't need your money," Heechul said pointedly.

"I know," Hankyung said. "I just wanted to make sure that you weren't -- I wanted you to be secure."

"Such a gentleman," Heechul sneered, though his foot brushed against Hankyung's leg. "I guess I should transfer my money to that account too. It would make more sense to have a large fund to draw on."

"Keep some money in your own," said Hankyung quickly. "Just -- just in case."

Heechul nodded solemnly, then ruined it by adding, "God, you owe me big time for this."