Super Junior {Siwon/Hankyung/Heechul ; Damn You Look Good and I’m (Not) Drunk}
Title: Damn You Look Good and I’m (Not) Drunk
Fandom: Super Junior (AU, !corrupted high school)
Pairing: Siwon/Hankyung/Heechul
Word count: 10,237
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Heechul was just as ridiculous as Siwon had been lead to believe, but Siwon was increasingly finding that he just didn’t care. Heechul certainly didn’t care.
A/N: For kayevelyn. Request: Shihanchul, how they got together in the corrupted high school series.
IDG HOW THIS IS SO LONG. IT’S LONG LIKE EUNHYUK. AND I STILL DON’T THINK THERE’S ANY SORT OF DEVELOPMENT AND IDK THERE ARE THINGS I LIKE AND THINGS I DON’T LIKE. I hope you like it all ;~; And lol you’ll see why I told you just to roll with it. That has got to be the worst character casting ever. That's even worse than Golden Bride casting Heechul as a playboy. Oh, and lol my porn fails :(
Title obviously from the Cobra Starship song, because I AM IN LOVE WITH THEM.
Damn You Look Good and I’m (Not) Drunk
Because Heechul likes to blame people, he blames Siwon for it, because Siwon is considered an easy target. And because Siwon doesn’t think he should have to take all of the blame for it, he blames Hankyung. And Hankyung blames Heechul, just because. So they all blame each other, and really, it’s Hankyung who is placing the blame on the right person, but no one is going to tell Heechul that.
When they first joined high school, they were misfits. That was okay, a lot of people were, but the others soon settled down, joined groups, made friends. Not them. It was not particularly through choice, but nor did they go out of their way to make friends. Siwon thinks that it’s a bit weird, looking back on it.
He had never made friends at junior high because he was, quite honestly, too clever. He passed every exam, came top in all of his classes, was the top student in the school, and it brewed resentment from his classmates. What he understood with complete ease, they had to study to remember; while he received praise heaped upon praise, they were told to try better. “Why can’t you be more like Siwon?” became the usual scold - Siwon didn’t blame them for hating him, he hated the phrase too.
His parents would have liked for him to have gone to a private school with famous teachers and state of the art facilities, but they couldn’t afford it. Siwon didn’t much care. He didn’t want to study, he didn’t want to have to compete against his classmates or else be considered stupid. He had become sick of that push to be on top, he wanted to be normal in high school.
It didn’t work like that - he ended up being a lot cleverer than anyone else simply through nature. High school is a competition anyway, even in the school that Siwon ended up going to, and those who were putting out feelers of friendship dropped him the moment it came out that he had come top in the entrance exams. So he gave up on friendship and ended up back studying, telling himself that future dreams were more important than the future.
He would sit in the cafeteria sometimes with his headphones in and a book in front of him, pretending to read, as he really watched people. It was amazing, what you could learn when you just paid attention to the way people acted around each other. He was able to work out which people were about to go out, which people were about to break up, which people hated which people. It was around this time that he noticed Kim Heechul and Hankyung.
He noticed Hankyung first, but that was only because Hankyung actually ate in the cafeteria; Heechul and Hankyung were in a different class to Siwon, and he had never had cause to talk to either of them - Heechul never ate school food, and Siwon had never come across him before, had only heard of him. He only noticed Hankyung because Hankyung always ate by himself too.
Siwon thought that was odd. He didn’t know Hankyung’s name at that point in time, but he always wondered why the boy sat by himself when he certainly had the looks to be popular. Siwon began to notice him in the corridor or walking out of school - always by himself, always alone, and Siwon remembers thinking how weird that was.
One day he was late for lunch, and his usual table had been taken over by a group of girls from the second year, who were laughing loudly amongst themselves and obviously didn’t notice Siwon staring in dismay at them. He looked around for somewhere else to sit - the only place was next to Hankyung, someone he didn’t know and hadn’t spoken to and didn’t even know the name of.
“Hey,” he said, standing next to the table and smiling in a way that felt more like a grimace at Hankyung. “Can I sit here?”
Hankyung looked up at him and frowned for a second, before he smiled in a cautious way. “Yes?” he said, more of a question, and then he sighed and said something in Chinese, and Siwon finally understood why he was always alone.
“Oh,” he said. “I didn’t know you were Chinese.” Hankyung frowned at him again, the confusion of not really understanding, so Siwon repeated what he had said as best he could in Chinese. Hankyung’s mouth moved for a moment or two, and then he smiled and motioned to the seat opposite him. Siwon took it, and for a moment went to take his book out of his bag, but noticing that Hankyung didn’t have anything of the sort in front of him, he changed his mind.
“How long have you been in Korea?” he asked, still in his stammering Chinese, hoping that Hankyung understood. Hankyung’s smile pulled wider; clearly he did.
“I came for high school,” said Hankyung in Korean, and there was tingling in the tips of Siwon’s fingers at his voice, soft and accented, and then he said something in Chinese that Siwon missed because he was too busy listening to the lilts of his voice; stilted in Korean, silk in Chinese.
Somehow they got through with a mixture of Korean and Chinese, and then the next day, and then the next one, and Siwon went from finishing a book a day to being lucky to finish one in two weeks, but he no longer cared. Hankyung was the first friend that he made in high school and for a month or so, the only friend, but he thinks now that maybe Heechul was simply waiting to make his entrance.
In the two months that they had been in high school, Kim Heechul had become so infamous that seniors were going out of their way to avoid him. Kim Heechul made sexual harassment look like child’s play. Back then, Heechul’s appearance had been fairly nondescript, black hair, uniform as regulation as anyone else’s, class work as average as could be expected. The only thing slightly odd about him was his attitude towards others: he was silent, scornful, a little snobby. Teachers received nothing but insolence; students, nothing at all.
After two weeks of this, however, a rumour spread like wildfire around the school; one night after school, Heechul had attacked a boy in an empty classroom, backing him into a corner and then kissing him and then after a while the boy simply hadn’t wanted to escape. And all blame and suspicion fell on Heechul, because he was the outsider.
It soon became quite obvious that Heechul simply didn’t care what the rest of the school thought of him. It was disconcerting how quickly his true colours began to show after that. His clothes became infinitely more stylish, his hair more styled. He smoked in full view of teachers and seemed to spend a lot of his time worming his way out of sticky situations. He bitched at the girls of the school, but then they probably felt that they got off lucky compared to the boys.
Heechul lifted his head up and showed his eyes to the world and they were tinged with insanity and mischief and sheer amusement, and his tone of voice was seductive and he was so trained in flirting as to be taking night classes in it. His fingers wandered with no restraint, and no one knew how to fight back against a person like that, someone so at ease with himself and his body and his talents, someone who knew exactly what he was doing.
Siwon lived in constant fear of drawing the attention of Kim Heechul.
Hankyung, on the other hand, seemed to find Heechul fascinating. They were, after all, in the same class, and Hankyung had many more opportunities for talking and interacting and getting to know him. Whenever Hankyung brought Heechul up in conversation, Siwon would laugh nervously and change the subject.
It was when Siwon and Hankyung were walking back to class one day after lunch, and Heechul passed them and said, with a smirk that had Siwon’s heart jumping; “Hey, Kyungie,” that Siwon realised that it was too late for Hankyung (and, looking back, probably too late for himself).
Siwon didn’t hang out with Heechul for most of that first year. Hankyung did. Whenever Hankyung wasn’t with Siwon, he would be with Heechul, and Hankyung never tried to get Siwon to join them, or even spoke about Heechul in front of him, but Siwon knew that they were getting closer. And Siwon didn’t know just how close their friendship might have been taken.
After six months of school, their reputations had pretty much been set. Siwon was loved among the teachers and disliked among the students. Hankyung was simply considered weird. Heechul was feared universally. Donghae, who Siwon had noticed not long after becoming friends with Hankyung, was considered by most to be not right in the head and too stupid to tie his own shoelaces. Siwon had his doubts about that one, but he only ever told Hankyung, and Hankyung just smiled mysteriously and changed the subject.
One day they were sitting at their usual table, Siwon reading over his notes for the test he had after lunch, when suddenly there was a bang and when he looked up it was to see Heechul sitting down opposite Hankyung, scowling. Siwon practically flinched, but Heechul didn’t even notice him, too busy glaring at Hankyung.
“You still haven’t told me whether you’re coming tonight,” he said. “I can’t hang around forever.”
Hankyung’s smile was faint. “You know I can’t,” he said. “Last time I came out, I didn’t find my way home until three am.”
“So take a map,” said Heechul scornfully.
“I couldn’t see, Heechul,” said Hankyung patiently.
“We’ll hang a sign around your neck,” said Heechul. “’I live at - wherever you live, please take me home.’”
“God only knows where I’ll end up,” said Hankyung.
“But Hankyung~” whined Heechul, and he leant forward and smirked at him; it made Siwon’s pulse race, Hankyung just shook his head. Then, the worst thing that Siwon could think of happened - Heechul looked at him.
“Hmm,” he said, as Siwon flushed and looked away - he hadn’t been staring, he just happened to be looking at him at that point in time. “You.”
“What about him?” asked Hankyung, and he sounded amused and not at all like he was about to stick up for Siwon.
“You can come too,” said Heechul in a low voice. “And then you can help Kyungie get home, so that he can come out and have fun.”
There was a pause, and then Siwon asked, “Come out where?”
“Donghae’s house,” said Hankyung. “He’s having a party tonight.”
“A party?” Siwon sounded nervous. “You mean, with alcohol and - things?”
“Does he live under a rock?” Heechul asked Hankyung, ignoring Siwon. He stood up and walked to the side of the table to wave jauntily at Hankyung. “Well, that’s settled. See you tonight, Kyungie.”
“Wait!” said Siwon, standing up as well. “I never said I’d do it.”
Heechul looked at him and smirked slowly. “Oh, you will,” he said, and he leant over and lay his hand on Siwon’s hip for just that bit too long, so Siwon shifted uncomfortably. Heechul’s eyes grew amused. “You will.”
Then he was walking out of the cafeteria, boys making a pathway for him as he went, and Siwon sat down heavily on his chair and held his head in his hands, and he missed the way Hankyung watched Heechul’s hip before he disappeared and then turned to smile at Siwon.
“I think Heechul likes you,” he said. Siwon just groaned.
“I was afraid of that,” he said.
***
Lee Donghae greeted Siwon at the door with an easy grin, pushed a drink into his hand and then pulled him into the house, in that order. “So are you the one who’s going to make sure Hankyung gets home?” he asked.
Siwon looked down at the drink in his hands and then back at Donghae - he had never seen the boy look more intelligent (or intelligent at all, in fact). “Um,” he said. “I think so, yeah.”
“Great!” said Donghae. “He and Heechul are in the kitchen, if you want to talk to them.”
“Um,” said Siwon, and held the glass back out to Donghae. “I don’t drink?” he said, voice almost apologetic.
“That’s cool,” said Donghae, and his grin was so open and friendly that Siwon warmed to him immediately. “Come on, I’ll show you to the kitchen.”
Hankyung hugged him tightly when he first saw him, which made Siwon think that maybe he was well on his way to being drunk, and Siwon hugged him back because it seemed like the right thing to do, but he couldn’t help but notice that Hankyung looked really good in his black shirt, and that Heechul looked plain hot in his loose jumper and tight, bright red jeans. Siwon released Hankyung feeling even more uncomfortable, looking down at his blue t-shirt in a way that made it obvious to everyone that he felt underdressed.
“Oh my god,” snorted Heechul. “Get a fucking drink down you and stop being such a loser.”
Siwon winced, but repeated what he’d said to Donghae. “I don’t drink.”
He seemed to have shocked Heechul into silence - after a minute, he turned to Hankyung and pointed accusingly at Siwon. “Where did you find him?” he asked, in almost a shriek.
Hankyung grinned at Siwon over the top of Heechul’s head. “There,” he said. “I told you he liked you.”
“I was afraid of that,” said Siwon. It was the exact same thing he’d said as that lunchtime and yet somehow, it came out differently. It sounded like he was joking, and he hadn’t exactly wanted it to come out like that. Heechul glanced at him coolly, and then sniffed.
“Most people would pay to be acquainted with me,” he said.
“Haven’t most people?” asked Siwon, mock-curiosity. What the hell, he thought, with some fear. What is wrong with me?
“And this is before he’s drunk,” muttered Hankyung in Chinese.
Heechul actually seemed amused at his question, and he took a step closer. “You certainly wouldn’t have to pay,” he purred, as he reached up to brush at his shoulder. Siwon smiled lightly.
“I’m going to have to keep that in mind,” he said.
“I’ve never seen you like this,” said Hankyung later on, standing outside the backdoor, the music playing on in the background. Siwon wasn’t sure whether Hankyung thought it was a good thing or a bad thing.
“I-” said Siwon, and then it struck him, why he felt suddenly less pressurised, freer. “Outside of school,” he said. “Outside of my reputation.”
“You have a reputation?” asked Heechul, suddenly appearing out of nowhere to stand next to Hankyung, almost too close. “Oh, wait, I think I remember hearing about it. Perfect Choi Siwon, that’s you, right?”
“I wouldn’t say perfect,” said Siwon, shifting nervously. “I just - do well in school.”
“I could do well in school too,” said Heechul. “If I could be bothered, of course.”
“It’s important to me,” said Siwon, not sure whether he was being laughed at. “I have places that I want to get to.” Places that hadn’t seemed so important after meeting Hankyung.
“I think,” said Heechul slowly. “That a little bit of fun wouldn’t go amiss with you.”
“What do you mean by fun?” asked Siwon, who hadn’t liked the smirk that had accompanied the assertion. Heechul didn’t answer, he just leered in Siwon’s direction, and Siwon’s mouth had relaxed into a smile of his own.
Heechul was just as ridiculous as Siwon had been lead to believe, but Siwon was increasingly finding that he just didn’t care. Heechul certainly didn’t care. He didn’t care what people thought of him, because he was just doing what he wanted to, and as the night progressed and Siwon realised that he was having fun, he began to loosen up too, became a little louder, became a little more willing to laugh and joke and even flirt.
By the time they left, Siwon trying to hold Hankyung upright, Heechul was grinning at him with hooded eyes and Siwon didn’t even care, because Kim Heechul was fun and if he was a bit outrageous, then Siwon was finding that he had a bit of that in himself, because it was as if keeping up with Heechul’s flirting was a second nature that he hadn’t known he’d had.
Hankyung didn’t say much on the way back to the flat that he rented; he smiled at Siwon all the way there and sometimes mumbled something in Chinese but other than that, there wasn’t a sound out of him. To be honest, Siwon wondered whether he was capable of speech. He didn’t know whether to be amused at it, or annoyed that Hankyung even did this sort of thing when he knew that he wouldn’t be able to get home afterwards.
He slept over and the next morning as Hankyung groaned with his head on the table, Siwon made him some coffee. Hankyung accepted it gratefully and even managed a smile. “I’m glad you came yesterday,” he said, once he was capable of speech without throwing up.
Siwon blinked. “I didn’t do anything,” he said.
“You got me home,” said Hankyung with a grin. “And also, you met Heechul.” He looked at Siwon in a scrutinising way. “What did you think of him?”
“Heechul?” Siwon shrugged. “He was fun. Different to what I expected.”
“In a good way?”
“Yeah,” said Siwon. “I don’t know, I liked him. He was - funny, I guess.”
“Most people are scared of him,” said Hankyung.
“I thought I would be,” said Siwon. “But I wasn’t. He - I just liked him.”
He didn’t know how to explain how he had felt. Heechul’s flirting and leering and innuendos had amused him and beyond that made him want to join in. He felt comfortable doing it around Heechul, because he was so ridiculous that he just could. It was confusing, and so he just shrugged, and Hankyung changed the subject.
***
Heechul caused quite a stir wherever he went, but the ripple of fear that went around Siwon’s class when he stepped through the doors was something that amused Siwon for about a week afterwards. Heechul took a step into the classroom and a couple of the boys in the front row shifted their tables back, so Heechul smirked at them and then winked; the two almost died on the spot.
Heechul left the two to struggle with their sexuality and stalked up to Siwon with such a sudden singularity of purpose that he looked quite mad. Siwon blinked at him. “Today,” announced Heechul, “you and Hankyung are going to go get your lunch and then meet Donghae and me on the field.”
Siwon blinked again. “I am?”
“You are because I say you are,” said Heechul.
“And what if I refuse?” said Siwon playfully, leaning back and folding his arms.
“Well,” purred Heechul, as he bent over the desk to rest his cheek on his hand and smirk at him. “I suppose I’d just have to make you.”
Siwon laughed lightly, and then straightened up. “I’ll be there,” he said.
“Spoilsport,” said Heechul, straightening up. “Just make sure you’re there,” he added, waggled his fingers at him, then at the boy sitting behind him, and then stalked back out of the room. Siwon lifted his book back up to read it, and was looked at suspiciously by a couple of the boys in his class.
“What?” he asked, looking at them in confusion.
“How do you know Heechul?” asked one of them.
Siwon blinked. “We’re friends,” he said. “Well, sort of.”
One of the boys snorted. “Sort of, I’m sure.”
“We’re not sleeping together,” said Siwon with a carefree laugh, turning back to his book. The boys exchange doubtful glances, but Siwon didn’t really care. They weren’t his friends, he didn’t have anything to do with them, and he didn’t need to answer to them as to who he was friends with.
He supposes that he was brought into the fold, but it doesn’t feel like that; it never felt like that at the time. He was friends with Hankyung, who was in turn friends with Heechul and Donghae, and so when Siwon joined the group there was a sense of everything coming together. There was certainly no awkwardness when Hankyung and Siwon walked down to the table together, Donghae and Heechul didn’t allow it. As they neared they heard boisterous laughter, and then Heechul shrieking in outrage, and when they got there they were pulled into Heechul’s argument.
“Donghae says that I look stupid when I smoke!” he screamed at them as they neared.
“Well, you do,” said Donghae, rolling his eyes. “Smoking is stupid, you’ll kill yourself.”
“Well at least I’d have had fun!” Heechul pulled Siwon down onto the bench next to him. “Siwon, tell Donghae that I look hot when I smoke.”
“Um,” said Siwon, but that was strangely easy to admit. “You look hot when you smoke.”
“See?” Heechul stuck his tongue out as Hankyung took the seat next to Donghae.
“But,” added Siwon. “Smoking is a bad idea.”
“Thank you,” said Donghae triumphantly.
“Oh whatever,” said Heechul. “We only do it because it looks cool.”
“We?” Siwon raised an eyebrow, and Hankyung looked at him a little sheepishly.
“It tastes nice,” he said.
Siwon stared at him: he’d never seen Hankyung smoke before. “You didn’t smoke at the party,” he said.
“I don’t do it as much as Heechul,” said Hankyung. “Only sometimes.”
“He looks hot when he does it,” said Heechul.
“I always look hot,” said Hankyung. The effect was ruined rather by his stumbling over his Korean in the middle of the statement. Heechul just made an amused noise, and draped his arms over Siwon to look at his meal, and then jumped forward and stole a bite. Siwon just looked miserably at him.
“Don’t give me that look,” said Heechul when he had swallowed. “You’ve got plenty.”
“Not now, I haven’t,” said Siwon, and Heechul just flicked his forehead and turned back to the coffee cooling on the table in front of him. Siwon watched him for the rest of the lunch period out of the corner of his eye.
Heechul fascinated Siwon. He was different than anyone that he had ever met, and when he smirked at him, Siwon’s pulse raced, and it became a fun, internal game, to see how far Heechul could go before Siwon began to feel uncomfortable. Heechul flirted, Siwon flirted back; that point where Siwon felt the need to pull back came later and later each day.
Rumours spread like wildfire around school. The four outsiders were the hot topic for the rest of the school anyway, and before long there were rumours of foursomes, of illicit meetings at night, of countless things that weren’t true in any way. Siwon laughed them off, Heechul didn’t help them one little bit because he thought it was hilarious, and Hankyung and Donghae just acted as though they didn’t understand, albeit in different ways. Then Siwon realised that maybe, just maybe, there was more to the rumours than met the eye.
Something changed, somewhere. Somehow Hankyung and Heechul ended up in his dreams, somehow they ended up in his thoughts in those moments where he drifted off and wasn’t paying attention. Somehow they became all he ever thought of, and for a while it was scary, but then it began to make sense. They were his friends, after all, and so he rationalised that it made sense.
He could rationalise anything away, it was something he was brilliant at. His dreams didn’t mean anything, because dreams were weird like that. His odd thoughts weren’t important, possibly he was catching something, some sort of virus, probably the common cold. He ignored it for a long, long time, because, if he was honest, that was just easier to do.
He ignored it until something happened that meant that he could no longer ignore it: something that forced the issue to a head. It probably made sense that it happened at a party, just like his first real encounter with Heechul had happened at a party. Looking back on it, the worst thing at the time was that he wasn’t even able to blame it on being drunk.
“Hey,” he shouted over the music to Hankyung. “Have you seen Heechul?” Hankyung mumbled something in Chinese, which Siwon asked him to repeat. It may have been fish tails, but probably wasn’t, Siwon’s vocabulary was just failing him. Hankyung was failing him too, so he made sure he had a glass of water, not alcohol, and went off to find Heechul to tell him they were going home.
Heechul was talking to Donghae in the kitchen, an elbow against the table, slender arm resting against the surface. He looked up from whatever he was saying when Siwon came in - he and Donghae were the only two in the room - and said, with a smirk; “Speak of the devil.”
“What?” asked Siwon, confused. Heechul just shrugged at him, still smirking. Siwon frowned and Donghae laughed. Siwon decided to just forget it. “Hankyung and I are going home.”
“Oh man,” said Heechul. “Are you aware of how that just sounded?”
“Perfectly aware,” said Siwon, smiling slightly. “You’d love to be coming with us, wouldn’t you?”
“Like you have no idea,” said Heechul in a low voice. Donghae hid a smile behind his hand, but Siwon had picked up on something in Heechul’s voice. That hadn’t been his usual flirting tone, there was something very real in there that made Siwon a little uncomfortable. He nodded shortly, and then turned to leave the room.
“Don’t be such a prude,” said Heechul, suddenly hanging off his arm. “I was only joking, you know that.”
“I know that,” confirmed Siwon, a little hollowly. Somehow, that hurt. He had reasoned away his feelings, that much was true, but there was something about hearing Heechul say that his flirting was just a joke that actually hurt a little.
They paused in the hallway, Heechul pulling back a little so that Siwon’s arm was dragged behind him. Heechul’s smirk was amused, mischievous, more of a grin. “You want it to be true, don’t you?” he said, and Siwon’s breath caught in his throat. “You really want me to mean it when I tell you that I want to sleep with you.”
Siwon just stared at him. “W-wha - how did you-”
“It’s written all over your pretty boy face, Siwonnie,” purred Heechul, and good God, thought Siwon, as Heechul pressed himself up against him. He pulled Siwon’s head down - Siwon was now incapable of moving - and whispered into his ear. “You want me.”
“Clearly,” said Siwon, in a slightly choked voice, trying to make it back into a joke. This was totally not how it was supposed to go, because it wasn’t supposed to go at all. His feelings were supposed to completely secret and downtrodden, and anyway, Hankyung had never shown any interest, and any interest on Heechul’s side had appeared nothing more than simply flirting. Except this didn’t appear to be simple flirting, as Heechul’s hand slipped under his shirt, fingertips almost ice-cold against his stomach.
“Heechul,” he said, voice tense and hoarse, but Heechul just ignored him and pressed closer, and then before Siwon could even think about what was about to happen, Heechul pressed his lips to his.
It was much softer than Siwon was expecting, but it was Heechul and Siwon quickly fell into the pressure that was quickly applied, forgetting everything except from the feeling of Heechul’s hair against his fingertips, and Heechul’s fingertips pressed to his stomach. Heechul’s eyes fluttered shut as he moaned slightly, and just as Siwon’s eyes were about to do the same, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and he jerked away quickly.
It was Hankyung, standing at the end of the hallway, staring at them. Siwon’s eyes widened, and as Heechul reached up to kiss him again, Hankyung dropped the glass he was holding. It shattered, water flying everywhere, and Heechul looked up and glanced towards the end of the hallway. Casually, he removed his hand from under Siwon’s shirt, and then touched his fingers to his bottom lip, smirking. Hankyung turned and left the house.
It was Siwon who went after him, shouting his name. Hankyung ignored him, but didn’t speed up, so all Siwon had to do was run a little faster to catch up. “Hankyung,” he said desperately. “Hankyung, it’s not-”
Hankyung turned around and punched him in the jaw.
Siwon didn’t fall over, but it was enough to make him stumble back a few steps. He stared, shocked into complete silence, as Hankyung glared at him, flexing his fingers. Hankyung cursed in Chinese.
“What the fuck was that for!” Siwon yelled, anger suddenly flaring up inside him.
“What do you think?” Hankyung screamed. “What was that back there, how could you fucking do that to me?”
“Wait,” said Siwon, narrowing his eyes at Hankyung. “Do you mean you and Heechul were - you know - dating?”
Hankyung paused for a second. “Well,” he said. “No.”
Siwon scowled at him. “So I don’t understand what your point is,” he said.
“We slept together, okay,” Hankyung said loudly, angrily. “A few nights ago, at my flat. He - he came around and we just, we sort of-”
“God, I get it!” Siwon shouted over the top, and then his voice lowered. There was something knotting in stomach, making him want to throw up. It was anger, true, red-hot anger, but there was something else there too, something that he couldn’t place but almost more potent. “I get it. I see. What gives you the right to judge me when I’m not the one who slept with him and then didn’t even tell his best friend.”
“Oh, don’t give me that,” said Hankyung; Siwon had never heard him be like this before, so scornful and dismissive. “You know perfectly well where that would have gone if I hadn’t conveniently interrupted you.”
“But-” Where would it have gone, Siwon wondered. Would he have slept with Heechul? The horrifying truth was that he actually would have, if Heechul had offered. His answer must have been written all over his face, because Hankyung snorted and muttered something in Chinese. Siwon’s anger exploded again.
“But I didn’t, did I?” he yelled. “No thanks to you. What, you couldn’t take that he clearly didn’t want you again, you had to ruin my chances?”
“What makes you think he didn’t want me again?” Hankyung shouted back, fists clenched.
“Well, he clearly decided I was a better idea,” said Siwon snidely. Hankyung glared at him, and for the first time Siwon noticed the tears unshed in his eyes, the hurt and betrayal written all over his face. He faltered, and then reached out for him. “Hankyung,” he said. “Hankyung, I’m sor-”
“Fuck you,” said Hankyung, and he turned around and walked off. Siwon watched as he disappeared around the corner, and then turned back to the house where music was still blasting from. Heechul was standing at the gate. Siwon looked at him, shocked, and then Heechul smirked at him, and then turned around and disappeared. Siwon just stood there.
***
Siwon avoided the others come Monday. While it was Hankyung who he had argued with, it was Heechul that he really didn’t want to run into - he didn’t want to be reminded any further of that kiss, and he certainly didn’t want to be reminded that he wanted more. How was he supposed to talk to Heechul about where that kiss was going, where it might still have been leading, when there was clearly something going on between Hankyung and Heechul?
Except, when Siwon did see Heechul, he was with Donghae, and Hankyung was nowhere to be seen. Siwon actually hid from them, standing around the corner as they walked past in the corridor, and Heechul was saying something, sounding annoyed. All Siwon heard was Donghae’s reply; “Maybe you’ve pushed it too far now.”
Were they talking about Hankyung? Him, maybe? How were they supposed to work through the terrible mess that this had become; Siwon was increasingly finding that he was unable to lay the blame on Heechul. He felt no anger towards Heechul, because -
“Okay,” he said, when Hankyung opened the door to his apartment. Hankyung quickly tried to shut it, but Siwon forced his foot between the door and the doorframe and stopped him. “This is just ridiculous, Hankyung.”
“What?” Hankyung said, looking like he honestly hadn’t understood. Siwon had found out that he hadn’t actually turned up for school that day, and from the look of him, he hadn’t actually slept any since Saturday. The areas under his eyes dark, he looked ruffled and uncomfortable, and he was just blinking slowly at Siwon.
“Ridiculous,” said Siwon in Chinese. “This whole thing.”
Hankyung sighed, and motioned for him to come in. His white t-shirt was creased at the back. He threw himself down on a chair, legs curled up underneath him. Siwon sat down on another chair, and laughed hollowly. “Are you killing yourself over Kim Heechul? Because I mean, seriously, this is just what Heechul is like, and we should know it.”
“I know that,” said Hankyung. Siwon raised his eyebrows, because he’d clearly understood the Korean this time. Hankyung sighed again. “I know what Heechul is like. I know that he plays games and that he’s just in it for the fun of it. But it still hurts.”
“I know,” said Siwon quietly, because somewhere along the line he had realised that that potent sickness he had felt on finding out Hankyung and Heechul had slept together had been hurt; but perhaps it had been a bit different to the hurt that Hankyung had felt. “I know how you feel.”
“How could you,” said Hankyung, and he didn’t sound annoyed or angry, just resigned. “It’s not like you had anything other than a drunken kiss.”
Hankyung didn’t meant for it to sound as mean as it came out, and Siwon knew this from the way his eyes were locked onto Siwon’s, desperate for him to understand him past his limited Korean. Siwon shook his head slowly. “No,” he said. “No, I do know how you feel. Because you kept it from me, Hankyung. How was I supposed to know that I couldn’t kiss Heechul if you hadn’t told me what had happened between the two of you?”
“I was going to tell you,” said Hankyung softly. “But how do you find the right time? And I thought - I needed to talk to Heechul first, to find out what was happening between the two of us.”
“Only he never gave you a chance,” said Siwon. “Because he turned around and practically assaulted me.” Hankyung looked up from his knees at that, and he grinned a little.
“Assaulted,” he repeated. “Is it assault if you want it?”
“This is Heechul,” said Siwon. “We know him. And we want him and he probably wanted a little fun and wanted to mess around. I can’t even be angry at him, Hankyung, because this is just what he’s like.”
“I’m not angry at him,” said Hankyung. “I’m angry at myself for fucking falling for it, even though I do know him. He was just sort of there - you know what I mean, you’ve seen him do it to other people - and I couldn’t say no.”
“I understand,” said Siwon softly.
“I’m sorry,” said Hankyung suddenly. “I’m sorry for Saturday, I was just so - angry, at the whole thing. I didn’t mean to-”
“No,” said Siwon quickly. “No, I was the one who - god, Hankyung, I said some horrible things, and I didn’t mean them at all, I just-” He had felt something that made him want to hurt Hankyung on that night, something that had made him desperate to show Hankyung how much it had hurt him, finding out that Hankyung had slept with Heechul, because it had been then, hadn’t it? When Hankyung had told him about sleeping with Heechul, that was when the hurt had begun, and Siwon had just assumed that it was all to do with Heechul. But what if it hadn’t been? What if it had been-
“God,” he whispered, and Hankyung looked at him curiously. “I felt betrayed,” Siwon said, more working things through in his mind than anything else. “Because you’d had Heechul, but - but it was worse than that, because you’d - you’d chosen-”
“What?” Hankyung was staring at him, confused.
“You’d chosen Heechul,” said Siwon, understanding rushing through his blood. “You’d chosen Heechul over me.”
“Wait, what?” Hankyung sat up suddenly, staring at him. “What do you mean, I’d chosen Heechul over you?”
“You slept with Heechul,” said Siwon. “And you chose Heechul, and I-”
“I didn’t choose Heechul,” said Hankyung. “Heechul - it was Heechul who - and not over you, I couldn’t - oh fuck.”
He stopped, because Siwon had suddenly moved to take hold of the tops of his arms, gripping almost desperately. “What do you mean?” he asked, hands shaking even as they held.
Hankyung made a noise in the back of his throat: it was at once both exasperated and fearful. “I didn’t choose Heechul over you,” he said, softly, in Chinese. “I didn’t, because I can’t do that. I have never been able to do that.”
“Have never?” Siwon repeated, a little dumbly, and then he tentatively moved forward, and Hankyung moved forward too, until their foreheads were touching and Siwon could feel breath against his lips - and then the door to the apartment flew open.
“Oh good,” said Heechul, as he stalked into the room, apparently not noticing the way the two people in the room were blushing, Siwon standing awkwardly in the middle of the room from where he’d jumped away. “I thought I’d find you here, Siwon.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Hankyung, but in his panic he had spoken in Chinese, so Heechul didn’t actually understand the highly suspicious question. However, he had heard the almost-hysteria in Hankyung’s voice, and raised an eyebrow.
“Okay,” he said. “Right, well, clearly I saw you fighting on Saturday night - and I must say that it was very nice, having two guys fight over me, I should probably try it again sometimes - and then Donghae told me that I should fix it and tell you the truth.”
“Since when did you listen to Donghae?” asked Siwon, unable to keep the smile from his lips. Heechul tossed him a cool look.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Although I’m never doing it again, because you aren’t even angry at me, are you? I knew you weren’t avoiding me.”
“How could we be angry at you?” asked Hankyung, smiling slightly. “The services you provide are too good for us to remain angry.”
“Yeah, well, you’d know all about those services, wouldn’t you?” Heechul’s smirk made Siwon’s stomach constrict, but not in a bad way; suddenly he was imagining Heechul’s mouth pressed to Hankyung chest, and it was one of the hottest things he had ever imagined.
“Okay,” continued Heechul. “Here’s the deal. I don’t want one of you, or the other.” Siwon blinked a little. “I want you both.”
Siwon certainly hadn’t been expecting that. He just sort of stared, and was vaguely aware of Hankyung doing the same. “What?” he asked, voice slightly hoarse.
“I want you both,” repeated Heechul, and for the first time Siwon noticed the way his hands were shaking down by his sides. He’s nervous, he thought, and that was far more shocking than what Heechul had said - because Heechul was sexual, but Heechul was never unsure. “I mean,” said Heechul, going on, and he sounded a little annoyed, perhaps at himself. “I wouldn’t complain if I only got one of you, but I’d prefer to have you both.”
“And I suppose, what you want, you get?” asked Hankyung, as if he was just checking, but he knew, just like Siwon did, that it was really a statement of fact. Heechul nodded coolly. “What if you don’t get either of us?”
Heechul snorted. “Highly unlikely,” he said, and he titled his hips slightly; as one, Hankyung and Siwon’s eyes were drawn to the movement. Heechul smirked. “See?”
“All I see,” said Hankyung, a hint of a smirk playing on his own lips, “is someone who is about to be disappointed.”
“What?” Heechul frowned a little, and he was unable to keep the shock from showing on his face, unable to hide the widening of his eyes, as Hankyung stood up, and took Siwon’s wrist, pulled him around, and then kissed him.
Maybe it was just because he knew that Heechul was watching, but in the split second before Hankyung pressed his lips to his own, Siwon’s mind thought fuck it, and he threw himself into the kiss, and it was easily just as good as when Heechul had kissed him, Hankyung’s tongue soon touching his own, Siwon’s hand against the back of Hankyung’s neck to pull him closer. Hankyung’s hands managed to get between their bodies, fingers coming up to work at the buttons on his shirts - and then Heechul was dragging one of Hankyung’s hands away, so they broke apart, breathing heavily; Siwon’s lips were numb.
“Okay,” said Heechul, and he didn’t seem angry or annoyed, and he pulled Hankyung’s hand down to his hip, and when he let go, Hankyung’s hand stayed. Heechul raised an eyebrow, and head tipped back slightly, triumph on his face, turned his attention to Siwon. “Okay,” he repeated, and then he surged up and kissed Siwon.
Hankyung, Siwon suddenly realised, had been a done thing with Heechul: he knew that Hankyung would be willing, because Hankyung already had been willing. Siwon, on the other hand, had been an uncertainty, because beyond that kiss, there hadn’t been anything concrete.
So when Heechul kissed him, he kissed him with everything he had, and Siwon, still reeling from kissing Hankyung, had to sink down onto the sofa, pulling Heechul down onto his lap. Heechul had both hands pressed to his cheeks, his legs asunder, right knee digging into Siwon’s stomach. Siwon felt like he was dying.
He felt a touch at his shoulder, and he dragged himself away to glance at Hankyung, who had one knee on the sofa next to him, looking at him with a strange look on his face. Siwon opened his mouth to say something, he had no idea what, or whether he was even capable of speech, and then Heechul jumped forward and kissed Hankyung - one hand still holding onto Siwon’s collar, fingers twisted possessively.
“Hey,” he said, when he broke away from Hankyung, Hankyung unconsciously leaning forward to stop the loss of contact. Heechul slid his gaze across to Siwon, and smirked, and for a sudden, strange moment, Siwon wanted to bite at his shoulder.
“Why don’t we try something?” Heechul said. He pressed his fingers to the skin near Siwon’s collarbone, slipping past his collar, and then pressed his mouth to the spot above Hankyung’s t-shirt collar, and Siwon understood what they could try.
“Yes,” he said. The word felt like a release, the acceptance of knowing that yes, he did want the two in front of him freeing him suddenly. He could admit it, now. He wanted to watch Heechul with his mouth around Hankyung’s cock; wanted Hankyung to watch as he fucked Heechul; wanted Heechul to watch as he and Hankyung kissed slowly. Hankyung laughed, a tremor in the noise.
“I cannot believe that we’re going to do this,” he said.
“It was always on the cards,” said Heechul. “I mean, this is me we’re talking about. I’m irresistible.”
“This is my apartment,” said Hankyung, standing up lazily. He reached down and pulled Heechul to his feet, and then helped Siwon up. “You might be careful with what you say, I can always throw you out.”
“Mmm,” said Heechul, and he trailed his fingers up the inside of Hankyung’s jeans and then rested his fingertips against his crotch. “I’m sure that won’t be happening.”
Hankyung reached out to pull Siwon to him to kiss him deeply, and Siwon couldn’t see what Heechul was doing, but was only aware of Hankyung gasping into his mouth at one point, and then Hankyung’s hands were against his shoulders and pushing him back. “Bedroom,” he said in a breathless tone. Heechul laughed in a triumphant way, and then took Siwon’s hand.
“Come on,” he said, dark mischief in his eyes. “I’ll show you the way.”
Siwon laughed. “I already know the way,” he said. “I’ve been in Hankyung’s bedroom before.”
“Not in this way, you haven’t,” said Hankyung wryly, and Heechul kissed Siwon, fingers hooked into his belt hoops, and dragged him forward until all three fell through Hankyung’s bedroom door.
Heechul lay down.
Siwon hesitated.
“Come on,” said Heechul, smirking at him, as Hankyung looked at him curiously. “Prude.”
“It’s not that,” said Siwon, rolling his eyes. “I’m just wondering how we’re supposed to fit on that bed.”
Heechul laughed again, one arm flung out over the edge of Hankyung’s single bed. “With great difficulty,” he said, and then sat up and held a hand out to Siwon. “You’re the genius,” he said. “Make it work.”
Siwon shook his head in slight exasperation and took Heechul’s hand and clambered onto the bed. He knelt above Heechul and kissed him, hands pressed to the pillow either side of Heechul’s head, and Heechul’s hands tangled in his hair. He became aware of Hankyung’s fingers undoing the buttons on his shirt, and when he lifted his head to look at him, Heechul moaned in annoyance.
“Why did I want you both?” he asked. “All this means is that I have to share.”
Siwon grinned at Hankyung, who nodded. “Or,” said Hankyung, leaning in to whisper in Heechul’s ear. “This way you get twice the attention.”
Siwon, in response to this, ran his fingers across the band of skin where Heechul’s t-shirt had ridden up, and then slowly undid the button on his jeans. Hankyung pressed his lips to the spot underneath Heechul’s ear. Heechul’s breath caught as Siwon began on his zip, and the sound sparked straight to Siwon’s groin, and he reached out and put his free hand on the back of Hankyung’s thigh; Hankyung was shaking.
Then, as if on a cue that had gone unspoken, Hankyung and Heechul were kissing fiercely, and Siwon was dragging Heechul’s jeans down over his thighs, and then he stopped, hands on Heechul’s hips. Heechul seemed to realise by the sudden stillness, as he tore himself away from Hankyung and glanced at him. Understanding bloomed across his face, and he threw himself back down on the bed.
“Fuck,” he said. “God save me from the fucking virgins.”
Siwon blushed hotly, but Hankyung just reached down and nipped Heechul’s thigh. Heechul gasped again, part outrage, part something else, as his hand shot out to pull Hankyung down. Hankyung evaded it, and instead took hold of Siwon’s hand and put it on the waistband of Heechul’s underwear.
“Don’t worry,” he said in Chinese, eyes alight with something that Siwon could not place at that point in time, and never has been able to place since. It was the only time he ever saw it in Hankyung’s eyes. “We all have to start sometime.” He turned to raise an eyebrow at Heechul. “Not all of us are born with inherent abilities,” he said. Heechul snorted.
“Inherent?” he said, scornfully. “I had to train to get this good.”
“So train me,” said Siwon suddenly, and then he stripped Heechul from the waist down. Heechul hummed in his throat.
“You don’t need training,” he said, sitting up on his elbows. “Just kiss me and go with what you feel.”
Siwon hesitated for a moment, and then crawled back up Heechul’s body and kissed him, Hankyung moving a little out of the way to make room. He told himself to just take it careful, to think about what he was doing, but suddenly Hankyung’s hands were unzipping his pants and slipping under his waistband, and Heechul was moaning as Siwon kissed his neck, one leg wrapped around his waist, and Hankyung was gasping into his ear as Heechul jerked his wrist.
“I knew we could make this work,” Heechul whispered, just before Siwon came.
***
Siwon blinked a little as he opened his front door and found Heechul and Hankyung standing on his doorstep, Hankyung’s arm around Heechul’s waist, cigarette held between his fingers casually. “Hey,” said Heechul, smirking at him. “Go put some shoes on, we’re going out.”
“We are?” Siwon look curiously at Hankyung.
“Apparently so,” said Hankyung easily, with the tone of someone who was just accepting what he was being told. Siwon shrugged, pulled on a pair of shoes, and shouted that he was going out to his mother, and then left quickly, before she could stop him.
“So where are we going?” he asked, as they turned the corner out of his street.
“It’s a surprise,” said Heechul, and he slipped away from Hankyung to walk a little ahead, leading the way to the place that neither Siwon nor Hankyung knew. Siwon rolled his eyes and put his arm across Hankyung’s shoulders.
It still felt a little weird, being like this. It had only been less than a week since they had first slept together, but in many ways it didn’t seem like anything had changed. There was still the easy flirting, except that now there was the knowledge in the back of Siwon’s mind that at some point, it was possible to follow up on what he said.
They had ended up at Heechul’s house three nights before, and had watched half of a film until Heechul had crawled into Hankyung’s lap, his hand guiding Siwon’s mouth to his. Heechul lived with his older sister, who had taken one look at his ‘friends’ and, with Heechul looking on with a smirk, ran her fingers through Hankyung’s hair, slid her hand across Siwon’s hip, and told them that if Heechul ever grew bored, she was perfectly willing to take his place.
“Or,” she said, winking at Siwon, “if you ever grow bored of Heechul.”
Siwon didn’t think that was likely, because he had known Heechul for almost a year without the promise of sex and hadn’t grown bored of him then. Heechul would still flirt with anything that moved, and would probably still assault them in some way, but Siwon had no doubt that it was he and Hankyung that he would come back to in the end, ‘my boys’, as he had taken to calling him.
Siwon slid his gaze along to Hankyung, who was watching Heechul with smile that held a hint of a leer. Hankyung, who had probably always known the feelings that Siwon had hidden inside him, and who had been torn between his two best friends. No, Siwon would never get bored of Hankyung either.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” said Hankyung. Heechul paused as he pushed open the door to the salon, and glanced back coolly.
“What?” he said. “You need new haircuts, and I fancy a change.”
“But I don’t have any money,” Siwon pointed out. He felt it was a good point, really, but Heechul just rolled his eyes.
“I know the head stylist,” he said. “It’s free. Just get the fuck in here, okay?”
Once inside, Hankyung and Siwon stood a little off the doorway as Heechul sauntered up to a tall, handsome man who looked to be a few years older than them. The guy looked away from the girl he was standing behind as Heechul neared, and his face broke into a grin and he whistled low at the sight of Heechul.
“You,” he said, hugging Heechul tightly, “look like you’re getting regular sex.”
Hankyung raised an eyebrow at Siwon, but Heechul didn’t blink an eyelid. “Well, I am completely fuckable, as you’d know,” he purred, and the man raked his eyes over his body slowly and then laughed, before he noticed Hankyung and Siwon standing by the door. He seemed to understand immediately.
“Kim Heechul,” he said, shaking his head a little fondly. “If I didn’t know you so well, I’d be scandalized.”
“Sorry, Jay,” said Heechul, patting him on the hip. “You just weren’t enough for you.”
“You wound me,” said the man dryly, and then motioned for Siwon and Hankyung to come closer. As they did, he held out his hand and shook theirs. “Hi,” he said. “I’m Jay, and I highly doubt Heechul has ever mentioned me before.”
“He just can’t get over being another fling,” said Heechul heavily, and then dragged Hankyung forward by his arm, and slipped his hand into Siwon’s back pocket. “Hankyung and Choi Siwon,” he said, by way of introduction. “They need haircuts.”
Jay peered at them thoughtfully, and then whistled again. “You did good,” he said to Heechul. “But you’re right, they do need a change.”
“I like my hair,” said Siwon doubtfully.
“Siwon,” said Heechul, almost-patience. “Shut up and just accept the damn haircut. You need some sort of style.”
“I have style,” protested Siwon. Hankyung was laughing at him, he knew.
“Yeah,” said Heechul. “Bookworm style, it won’t do.”
“I think,” said Hankyung, with a grin. “He’s trying to make us worthy of him.”
“Kyungie gets it,” said Heechul with a smirk, and he reached out and pushed Hankyung forward, and Jay motioned for a girl to come over, who led an unresisting Hankyung to a chair in front of a mirror. Heechul turned his attention to Siwon, smirking up at him.
“What do you say, Siwonnie?” he asked, but it wasn’t really a question, because they both knew that Siwon would just roll with it. Siwon nodded, very slowly, and Heechul practically beamed, except this was Heechul and he never did that. He pulled on his arm and sat him down in a chair, and then went into the corner of the room to discuss what they were going to do with their hair.
“And so we go,” said Siwon, in a deep, mocking tone, “into the abyss.”
“Don’t let go,” said Hankyung, and made a show of reaching out for Siwon’s hand to grip it. By the time Heechul came back over, they were laughing so hard that he actually hit them over the head.
“Stop that,” he said, glaring at them. “You’re showing me up.”
“No, you can do that without our help,” said Hankyung easily. Heechul hit him again, before turning and motioning for the two girls standing in front of Jay to come forward. One of them stood behind Siwon and he smiled pleasantly at her, and Heechul reached forward and snagged both of the girls by the collar.
“Look, but don’t touch,” he said. “No, in fact, don’t even look.”
The two girls looked suddenly terrified, but Jay just laughed and physically pulled Heechul away. “I have an idea,” was the last thing they heard him say before he went to an enclosed area at the back of the salon. “You’re going to have to trust me with this.”
An hour and a half later, Siwon was staring at himself in the mirror, hand hovering over his head, unwilling to touch it but not really believing it. “My hair wasn’t long enough for this,” he said.
“It’s all about the right cut,” said his stylist, a cheerful girl with long black hair down to her waist. “It makes it look longer than it is.”
“Oh, is it finished?” Hankyung looked up curiously from the magazine he had been attempting to read - his Korean didn’t lend itself that well to it - while he waited for whatever his own stylist had done with his hair to take effect, and he looked at Siwon and then froze, mouth open. “What,” he said.
“It looks awful,” said Siwon, a little resigned. “And I can’t even blame it on Heechul, he will never take blame.”
“It does not look awful,” said Hankyung, hoarse. “Fuck me, Siwon.”
“Later,” said Siwon, almost absently, as he fluffed at his hair in the mirror. He looked nervously at his hair. “Does it really look that good?” he asked, doubtful.
“Of course it does,” said Heechul’s voice from behind them. They turned to see him with his hair in the same sort of foil as Hankyung’s. “I told them to do it like that, of course it was going to look good.”
“Oh,” said Siwon, and turned back to the mirror. Heechul rolled his eyes.
“Who do you think you are?” he asked. “Me?”
“I wish,” said Siwon, and Hankyung reached out and pulled Heechul down onto the seat next to him, arm slung across his shoulder.
“What are you getting done?” he asked. Heechul tapped the side of his nose.
“It’s a surprise,” he said.
“What am I getting done?” Hankyung asked, glancing at Siwon in the mirror.
“That’s an even bigger surprise,” said Heechul, and he stood up and nudged Siwon with his hip. “Call me over when Hankyung’s hair gets revealed,” he said. “I doubt he’ll be able to speak afterwards.”
“Um, okay,” said Siwon, and watched as Heechul sauntered back over to Jay. Hankyung looked after him mournfully, clearly wanting to know what his hair was going to look like, and the worst thing was that Heechul was actually correct, because when he looked in the mirror after everything was complete, Hankyung spluttered in Chinese and then fell completely silent.
“Oh my god,” said Siwon in a hushed voice, and then shouted, without taking his eyes off Hankyung’s hair, “Heechul, he’s finished!”
“Oh good,” said Heechul’s voice. “I’ve just finished too.”
Siwon tore his eyes away for a split second to glance at Heechul, and then did a complete double take. “Fuck,” he said. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
“That’s the reaction I was looking for,” said Heechul, flicking his now red hair from his eyes with a casual hand. “I would ask what you thought, but since you clearly want to fuck me right now, I won’t.” He looked away from Siwon to look at Hankyung, who was still staring at himself in the mirror. Heechul walked forward and draped his arms over his shoulders, and murmured into his ear, just loud enough for Siwon to be able to hear. “I can’t wait to get you both home. That’s when the fun starts.”
“I’m blonde,” said Hankyung, hoarsely.
“Sexy, too,” said Heechul. “Don’t forget sexy.”
Hankyung touched the bottom of his hair, and Heechul ran his hands through it, and then reached out and did the same to Siwon’s hair. Then he stood up. “Come on,” he said, smirking at them. “Remember, Hankyung, blondes have more fun. And you know what they say about redheads.”
“Well, what does that make me?” Siwon asked, standing up and pulling a still shell-shocked Hankyung to his feet. Heechul smirked at him.
“Well,” he purred, putting his arms around the back of Siwon’s neck, and pulling up so that their lips brushed. “I suppose you get to see what they say about redheads.”
***
They caused a stir when they walked into school on Monday. Their hair would have been bad enough, but the fact that Siwon had his arm wrapped around Heechul’s shoulders, who had his arm around Hankyung’s waist, meant that everyone was very aware of some sort of a change in the relationship. Donghae met them with a grin but didn’t comment; perhaps he had seen it coming anyway. Donghae was incredibly intelligent for someone who was capable of looking so blank faced.
They sat at lunch on their usual table on the field, Heechul in Siwon’s lap, kicking at Hankyung with his feet whenever he said something that Heechul took to be vaguely insulting or stupid. Siwon rested his chin on his hair and then laughed when Heechul shook him off in annoyance, and then the noise was cut off by Heechul jumping forward and kissing him quickly. He tasted like cigarette smoke and coffee, and Siwon couldn’t help but make some sort of connection in his mind about Heechul and addiction.
Except then Hankyung put his hand on the small of his back, fingers curling slightly, Siwon remembered kissing Hankyung, who tasted like mint and the slight bitterness of green tea, and Siwon didn’t even like green tea, but he was probably in love with Hankyung, and he was probably in love with Heechul too.
He grinned at Hankyung, who grinned back and circled Heechul’s ankle with his fingers, loose but intimate. Heechul reached out and took Hankyung’s free hand, and then pressed his face to Siwon’s neck, mouth open. Siwon struggled to work out what Donghae was saying.
Donghae rolled his eyes. Heechul later said that he was just jealous. Siwon didn’t blame him: he would be too.
Fandom: Super Junior (AU, !corrupted high school)
Pairing: Siwon/Hankyung/Heechul
Word count: 10,237
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Heechul was just as ridiculous as Siwon had been lead to believe, but Siwon was increasingly finding that he just didn’t care. Heechul certainly didn’t care.
A/N: For kayevelyn. Request: Shihanchul, how they got together in the corrupted high school series.
IDG HOW THIS IS SO LONG. IT’S LONG LIKE EUNHYUK. AND I STILL DON’T THINK THERE’S ANY SORT OF DEVELOPMENT AND IDK THERE ARE THINGS I LIKE AND THINGS I DON’T LIKE. I hope you like it all ;~; And lol you’ll see why I told you just to roll with it. That has got to be the worst character casting ever. That's even worse than Golden Bride casting Heechul as a playboy. Oh, and lol my porn fails :(
Title obviously from the Cobra Starship song, because I AM IN LOVE WITH THEM.
Damn You Look Good and I’m (Not) Drunk
Because Heechul likes to blame people, he blames Siwon for it, because Siwon is considered an easy target. And because Siwon doesn’t think he should have to take all of the blame for it, he blames Hankyung. And Hankyung blames Heechul, just because. So they all blame each other, and really, it’s Hankyung who is placing the blame on the right person, but no one is going to tell Heechul that.
When they first joined high school, they were misfits. That was okay, a lot of people were, but the others soon settled down, joined groups, made friends. Not them. It was not particularly through choice, but nor did they go out of their way to make friends. Siwon thinks that it’s a bit weird, looking back on it.
He had never made friends at junior high because he was, quite honestly, too clever. He passed every exam, came top in all of his classes, was the top student in the school, and it brewed resentment from his classmates. What he understood with complete ease, they had to study to remember; while he received praise heaped upon praise, they were told to try better. “Why can’t you be more like Siwon?” became the usual scold - Siwon didn’t blame them for hating him, he hated the phrase too.
His parents would have liked for him to have gone to a private school with famous teachers and state of the art facilities, but they couldn’t afford it. Siwon didn’t much care. He didn’t want to study, he didn’t want to have to compete against his classmates or else be considered stupid. He had become sick of that push to be on top, he wanted to be normal in high school.
It didn’t work like that - he ended up being a lot cleverer than anyone else simply through nature. High school is a competition anyway, even in the school that Siwon ended up going to, and those who were putting out feelers of friendship dropped him the moment it came out that he had come top in the entrance exams. So he gave up on friendship and ended up back studying, telling himself that future dreams were more important than the future.
He would sit in the cafeteria sometimes with his headphones in and a book in front of him, pretending to read, as he really watched people. It was amazing, what you could learn when you just paid attention to the way people acted around each other. He was able to work out which people were about to go out, which people were about to break up, which people hated which people. It was around this time that he noticed Kim Heechul and Hankyung.
He noticed Hankyung first, but that was only because Hankyung actually ate in the cafeteria; Heechul and Hankyung were in a different class to Siwon, and he had never had cause to talk to either of them - Heechul never ate school food, and Siwon had never come across him before, had only heard of him. He only noticed Hankyung because Hankyung always ate by himself too.
Siwon thought that was odd. He didn’t know Hankyung’s name at that point in time, but he always wondered why the boy sat by himself when he certainly had the looks to be popular. Siwon began to notice him in the corridor or walking out of school - always by himself, always alone, and Siwon remembers thinking how weird that was.
One day he was late for lunch, and his usual table had been taken over by a group of girls from the second year, who were laughing loudly amongst themselves and obviously didn’t notice Siwon staring in dismay at them. He looked around for somewhere else to sit - the only place was next to Hankyung, someone he didn’t know and hadn’t spoken to and didn’t even know the name of.
“Hey,” he said, standing next to the table and smiling in a way that felt more like a grimace at Hankyung. “Can I sit here?”
Hankyung looked up at him and frowned for a second, before he smiled in a cautious way. “Yes?” he said, more of a question, and then he sighed and said something in Chinese, and Siwon finally understood why he was always alone.
“Oh,” he said. “I didn’t know you were Chinese.” Hankyung frowned at him again, the confusion of not really understanding, so Siwon repeated what he had said as best he could in Chinese. Hankyung’s mouth moved for a moment or two, and then he smiled and motioned to the seat opposite him. Siwon took it, and for a moment went to take his book out of his bag, but noticing that Hankyung didn’t have anything of the sort in front of him, he changed his mind.
“How long have you been in Korea?” he asked, still in his stammering Chinese, hoping that Hankyung understood. Hankyung’s smile pulled wider; clearly he did.
“I came for high school,” said Hankyung in Korean, and there was tingling in the tips of Siwon’s fingers at his voice, soft and accented, and then he said something in Chinese that Siwon missed because he was too busy listening to the lilts of his voice; stilted in Korean, silk in Chinese.
Somehow they got through with a mixture of Korean and Chinese, and then the next day, and then the next one, and Siwon went from finishing a book a day to being lucky to finish one in two weeks, but he no longer cared. Hankyung was the first friend that he made in high school and for a month or so, the only friend, but he thinks now that maybe Heechul was simply waiting to make his entrance.
In the two months that they had been in high school, Kim Heechul had become so infamous that seniors were going out of their way to avoid him. Kim Heechul made sexual harassment look like child’s play. Back then, Heechul’s appearance had been fairly nondescript, black hair, uniform as regulation as anyone else’s, class work as average as could be expected. The only thing slightly odd about him was his attitude towards others: he was silent, scornful, a little snobby. Teachers received nothing but insolence; students, nothing at all.
After two weeks of this, however, a rumour spread like wildfire around the school; one night after school, Heechul had attacked a boy in an empty classroom, backing him into a corner and then kissing him and then after a while the boy simply hadn’t wanted to escape. And all blame and suspicion fell on Heechul, because he was the outsider.
It soon became quite obvious that Heechul simply didn’t care what the rest of the school thought of him. It was disconcerting how quickly his true colours began to show after that. His clothes became infinitely more stylish, his hair more styled. He smoked in full view of teachers and seemed to spend a lot of his time worming his way out of sticky situations. He bitched at the girls of the school, but then they probably felt that they got off lucky compared to the boys.
Heechul lifted his head up and showed his eyes to the world and they were tinged with insanity and mischief and sheer amusement, and his tone of voice was seductive and he was so trained in flirting as to be taking night classes in it. His fingers wandered with no restraint, and no one knew how to fight back against a person like that, someone so at ease with himself and his body and his talents, someone who knew exactly what he was doing.
Siwon lived in constant fear of drawing the attention of Kim Heechul.
Hankyung, on the other hand, seemed to find Heechul fascinating. They were, after all, in the same class, and Hankyung had many more opportunities for talking and interacting and getting to know him. Whenever Hankyung brought Heechul up in conversation, Siwon would laugh nervously and change the subject.
It was when Siwon and Hankyung were walking back to class one day after lunch, and Heechul passed them and said, with a smirk that had Siwon’s heart jumping; “Hey, Kyungie,” that Siwon realised that it was too late for Hankyung (and, looking back, probably too late for himself).
Siwon didn’t hang out with Heechul for most of that first year. Hankyung did. Whenever Hankyung wasn’t with Siwon, he would be with Heechul, and Hankyung never tried to get Siwon to join them, or even spoke about Heechul in front of him, but Siwon knew that they were getting closer. And Siwon didn’t know just how close their friendship might have been taken.
After six months of school, their reputations had pretty much been set. Siwon was loved among the teachers and disliked among the students. Hankyung was simply considered weird. Heechul was feared universally. Donghae, who Siwon had noticed not long after becoming friends with Hankyung, was considered by most to be not right in the head and too stupid to tie his own shoelaces. Siwon had his doubts about that one, but he only ever told Hankyung, and Hankyung just smiled mysteriously and changed the subject.
One day they were sitting at their usual table, Siwon reading over his notes for the test he had after lunch, when suddenly there was a bang and when he looked up it was to see Heechul sitting down opposite Hankyung, scowling. Siwon practically flinched, but Heechul didn’t even notice him, too busy glaring at Hankyung.
“You still haven’t told me whether you’re coming tonight,” he said. “I can’t hang around forever.”
Hankyung’s smile was faint. “You know I can’t,” he said. “Last time I came out, I didn’t find my way home until three am.”
“So take a map,” said Heechul scornfully.
“I couldn’t see, Heechul,” said Hankyung patiently.
“We’ll hang a sign around your neck,” said Heechul. “’I live at - wherever you live, please take me home.’”
“God only knows where I’ll end up,” said Hankyung.
“But Hankyung~” whined Heechul, and he leant forward and smirked at him; it made Siwon’s pulse race, Hankyung just shook his head. Then, the worst thing that Siwon could think of happened - Heechul looked at him.
“Hmm,” he said, as Siwon flushed and looked away - he hadn’t been staring, he just happened to be looking at him at that point in time. “You.”
“What about him?” asked Hankyung, and he sounded amused and not at all like he was about to stick up for Siwon.
“You can come too,” said Heechul in a low voice. “And then you can help Kyungie get home, so that he can come out and have fun.”
There was a pause, and then Siwon asked, “Come out where?”
“Donghae’s house,” said Hankyung. “He’s having a party tonight.”
“A party?” Siwon sounded nervous. “You mean, with alcohol and - things?”
“Does he live under a rock?” Heechul asked Hankyung, ignoring Siwon. He stood up and walked to the side of the table to wave jauntily at Hankyung. “Well, that’s settled. See you tonight, Kyungie.”
“Wait!” said Siwon, standing up as well. “I never said I’d do it.”
Heechul looked at him and smirked slowly. “Oh, you will,” he said, and he leant over and lay his hand on Siwon’s hip for just that bit too long, so Siwon shifted uncomfortably. Heechul’s eyes grew amused. “You will.”
Then he was walking out of the cafeteria, boys making a pathway for him as he went, and Siwon sat down heavily on his chair and held his head in his hands, and he missed the way Hankyung watched Heechul’s hip before he disappeared and then turned to smile at Siwon.
“I think Heechul likes you,” he said. Siwon just groaned.
“I was afraid of that,” he said.
***
Lee Donghae greeted Siwon at the door with an easy grin, pushed a drink into his hand and then pulled him into the house, in that order. “So are you the one who’s going to make sure Hankyung gets home?” he asked.
Siwon looked down at the drink in his hands and then back at Donghae - he had never seen the boy look more intelligent (or intelligent at all, in fact). “Um,” he said. “I think so, yeah.”
“Great!” said Donghae. “He and Heechul are in the kitchen, if you want to talk to them.”
“Um,” said Siwon, and held the glass back out to Donghae. “I don’t drink?” he said, voice almost apologetic.
“That’s cool,” said Donghae, and his grin was so open and friendly that Siwon warmed to him immediately. “Come on, I’ll show you to the kitchen.”
Hankyung hugged him tightly when he first saw him, which made Siwon think that maybe he was well on his way to being drunk, and Siwon hugged him back because it seemed like the right thing to do, but he couldn’t help but notice that Hankyung looked really good in his black shirt, and that Heechul looked plain hot in his loose jumper and tight, bright red jeans. Siwon released Hankyung feeling even more uncomfortable, looking down at his blue t-shirt in a way that made it obvious to everyone that he felt underdressed.
“Oh my god,” snorted Heechul. “Get a fucking drink down you and stop being such a loser.”
Siwon winced, but repeated what he’d said to Donghae. “I don’t drink.”
He seemed to have shocked Heechul into silence - after a minute, he turned to Hankyung and pointed accusingly at Siwon. “Where did you find him?” he asked, in almost a shriek.
Hankyung grinned at Siwon over the top of Heechul’s head. “There,” he said. “I told you he liked you.”
“I was afraid of that,” said Siwon. It was the exact same thing he’d said as that lunchtime and yet somehow, it came out differently. It sounded like he was joking, and he hadn’t exactly wanted it to come out like that. Heechul glanced at him coolly, and then sniffed.
“Most people would pay to be acquainted with me,” he said.
“Haven’t most people?” asked Siwon, mock-curiosity. What the hell, he thought, with some fear. What is wrong with me?
“And this is before he’s drunk,” muttered Hankyung in Chinese.
Heechul actually seemed amused at his question, and he took a step closer. “You certainly wouldn’t have to pay,” he purred, as he reached up to brush at his shoulder. Siwon smiled lightly.
“I’m going to have to keep that in mind,” he said.
“I’ve never seen you like this,” said Hankyung later on, standing outside the backdoor, the music playing on in the background. Siwon wasn’t sure whether Hankyung thought it was a good thing or a bad thing.
“I-” said Siwon, and then it struck him, why he felt suddenly less pressurised, freer. “Outside of school,” he said. “Outside of my reputation.”
“You have a reputation?” asked Heechul, suddenly appearing out of nowhere to stand next to Hankyung, almost too close. “Oh, wait, I think I remember hearing about it. Perfect Choi Siwon, that’s you, right?”
“I wouldn’t say perfect,” said Siwon, shifting nervously. “I just - do well in school.”
“I could do well in school too,” said Heechul. “If I could be bothered, of course.”
“It’s important to me,” said Siwon, not sure whether he was being laughed at. “I have places that I want to get to.” Places that hadn’t seemed so important after meeting Hankyung.
“I think,” said Heechul slowly. “That a little bit of fun wouldn’t go amiss with you.”
“What do you mean by fun?” asked Siwon, who hadn’t liked the smirk that had accompanied the assertion. Heechul didn’t answer, he just leered in Siwon’s direction, and Siwon’s mouth had relaxed into a smile of his own.
Heechul was just as ridiculous as Siwon had been lead to believe, but Siwon was increasingly finding that he just didn’t care. Heechul certainly didn’t care. He didn’t care what people thought of him, because he was just doing what he wanted to, and as the night progressed and Siwon realised that he was having fun, he began to loosen up too, became a little louder, became a little more willing to laugh and joke and even flirt.
By the time they left, Siwon trying to hold Hankyung upright, Heechul was grinning at him with hooded eyes and Siwon didn’t even care, because Kim Heechul was fun and if he was a bit outrageous, then Siwon was finding that he had a bit of that in himself, because it was as if keeping up with Heechul’s flirting was a second nature that he hadn’t known he’d had.
Hankyung didn’t say much on the way back to the flat that he rented; he smiled at Siwon all the way there and sometimes mumbled something in Chinese but other than that, there wasn’t a sound out of him. To be honest, Siwon wondered whether he was capable of speech. He didn’t know whether to be amused at it, or annoyed that Hankyung even did this sort of thing when he knew that he wouldn’t be able to get home afterwards.
He slept over and the next morning as Hankyung groaned with his head on the table, Siwon made him some coffee. Hankyung accepted it gratefully and even managed a smile. “I’m glad you came yesterday,” he said, once he was capable of speech without throwing up.
Siwon blinked. “I didn’t do anything,” he said.
“You got me home,” said Hankyung with a grin. “And also, you met Heechul.” He looked at Siwon in a scrutinising way. “What did you think of him?”
“Heechul?” Siwon shrugged. “He was fun. Different to what I expected.”
“In a good way?”
“Yeah,” said Siwon. “I don’t know, I liked him. He was - funny, I guess.”
“Most people are scared of him,” said Hankyung.
“I thought I would be,” said Siwon. “But I wasn’t. He - I just liked him.”
He didn’t know how to explain how he had felt. Heechul’s flirting and leering and innuendos had amused him and beyond that made him want to join in. He felt comfortable doing it around Heechul, because he was so ridiculous that he just could. It was confusing, and so he just shrugged, and Hankyung changed the subject.
***
Heechul caused quite a stir wherever he went, but the ripple of fear that went around Siwon’s class when he stepped through the doors was something that amused Siwon for about a week afterwards. Heechul took a step into the classroom and a couple of the boys in the front row shifted their tables back, so Heechul smirked at them and then winked; the two almost died on the spot.
Heechul left the two to struggle with their sexuality and stalked up to Siwon with such a sudden singularity of purpose that he looked quite mad. Siwon blinked at him. “Today,” announced Heechul, “you and Hankyung are going to go get your lunch and then meet Donghae and me on the field.”
Siwon blinked again. “I am?”
“You are because I say you are,” said Heechul.
“And what if I refuse?” said Siwon playfully, leaning back and folding his arms.
“Well,” purred Heechul, as he bent over the desk to rest his cheek on his hand and smirk at him. “I suppose I’d just have to make you.”
Siwon laughed lightly, and then straightened up. “I’ll be there,” he said.
“Spoilsport,” said Heechul, straightening up. “Just make sure you’re there,” he added, waggled his fingers at him, then at the boy sitting behind him, and then stalked back out of the room. Siwon lifted his book back up to read it, and was looked at suspiciously by a couple of the boys in his class.
“What?” he asked, looking at them in confusion.
“How do you know Heechul?” asked one of them.
Siwon blinked. “We’re friends,” he said. “Well, sort of.”
One of the boys snorted. “Sort of, I’m sure.”
“We’re not sleeping together,” said Siwon with a carefree laugh, turning back to his book. The boys exchange doubtful glances, but Siwon didn’t really care. They weren’t his friends, he didn’t have anything to do with them, and he didn’t need to answer to them as to who he was friends with.
He supposes that he was brought into the fold, but it doesn’t feel like that; it never felt like that at the time. He was friends with Hankyung, who was in turn friends with Heechul and Donghae, and so when Siwon joined the group there was a sense of everything coming together. There was certainly no awkwardness when Hankyung and Siwon walked down to the table together, Donghae and Heechul didn’t allow it. As they neared they heard boisterous laughter, and then Heechul shrieking in outrage, and when they got there they were pulled into Heechul’s argument.
“Donghae says that I look stupid when I smoke!” he screamed at them as they neared.
“Well, you do,” said Donghae, rolling his eyes. “Smoking is stupid, you’ll kill yourself.”
“Well at least I’d have had fun!” Heechul pulled Siwon down onto the bench next to him. “Siwon, tell Donghae that I look hot when I smoke.”
“Um,” said Siwon, but that was strangely easy to admit. “You look hot when you smoke.”
“See?” Heechul stuck his tongue out as Hankyung took the seat next to Donghae.
“But,” added Siwon. “Smoking is a bad idea.”
“Thank you,” said Donghae triumphantly.
“Oh whatever,” said Heechul. “We only do it because it looks cool.”
“We?” Siwon raised an eyebrow, and Hankyung looked at him a little sheepishly.
“It tastes nice,” he said.
Siwon stared at him: he’d never seen Hankyung smoke before. “You didn’t smoke at the party,” he said.
“I don’t do it as much as Heechul,” said Hankyung. “Only sometimes.”
“He looks hot when he does it,” said Heechul.
“I always look hot,” said Hankyung. The effect was ruined rather by his stumbling over his Korean in the middle of the statement. Heechul just made an amused noise, and draped his arms over Siwon to look at his meal, and then jumped forward and stole a bite. Siwon just looked miserably at him.
“Don’t give me that look,” said Heechul when he had swallowed. “You’ve got plenty.”
“Not now, I haven’t,” said Siwon, and Heechul just flicked his forehead and turned back to the coffee cooling on the table in front of him. Siwon watched him for the rest of the lunch period out of the corner of his eye.
Heechul fascinated Siwon. He was different than anyone that he had ever met, and when he smirked at him, Siwon’s pulse raced, and it became a fun, internal game, to see how far Heechul could go before Siwon began to feel uncomfortable. Heechul flirted, Siwon flirted back; that point where Siwon felt the need to pull back came later and later each day.
Rumours spread like wildfire around school. The four outsiders were the hot topic for the rest of the school anyway, and before long there were rumours of foursomes, of illicit meetings at night, of countless things that weren’t true in any way. Siwon laughed them off, Heechul didn’t help them one little bit because he thought it was hilarious, and Hankyung and Donghae just acted as though they didn’t understand, albeit in different ways. Then Siwon realised that maybe, just maybe, there was more to the rumours than met the eye.
Something changed, somewhere. Somehow Hankyung and Heechul ended up in his dreams, somehow they ended up in his thoughts in those moments where he drifted off and wasn’t paying attention. Somehow they became all he ever thought of, and for a while it was scary, but then it began to make sense. They were his friends, after all, and so he rationalised that it made sense.
He could rationalise anything away, it was something he was brilliant at. His dreams didn’t mean anything, because dreams were weird like that. His odd thoughts weren’t important, possibly he was catching something, some sort of virus, probably the common cold. He ignored it for a long, long time, because, if he was honest, that was just easier to do.
He ignored it until something happened that meant that he could no longer ignore it: something that forced the issue to a head. It probably made sense that it happened at a party, just like his first real encounter with Heechul had happened at a party. Looking back on it, the worst thing at the time was that he wasn’t even able to blame it on being drunk.
“Hey,” he shouted over the music to Hankyung. “Have you seen Heechul?” Hankyung mumbled something in Chinese, which Siwon asked him to repeat. It may have been fish tails, but probably wasn’t, Siwon’s vocabulary was just failing him. Hankyung was failing him too, so he made sure he had a glass of water, not alcohol, and went off to find Heechul to tell him they were going home.
Heechul was talking to Donghae in the kitchen, an elbow against the table, slender arm resting against the surface. He looked up from whatever he was saying when Siwon came in - he and Donghae were the only two in the room - and said, with a smirk; “Speak of the devil.”
“What?” asked Siwon, confused. Heechul just shrugged at him, still smirking. Siwon frowned and Donghae laughed. Siwon decided to just forget it. “Hankyung and I are going home.”
“Oh man,” said Heechul. “Are you aware of how that just sounded?”
“Perfectly aware,” said Siwon, smiling slightly. “You’d love to be coming with us, wouldn’t you?”
“Like you have no idea,” said Heechul in a low voice. Donghae hid a smile behind his hand, but Siwon had picked up on something in Heechul’s voice. That hadn’t been his usual flirting tone, there was something very real in there that made Siwon a little uncomfortable. He nodded shortly, and then turned to leave the room.
“Don’t be such a prude,” said Heechul, suddenly hanging off his arm. “I was only joking, you know that.”
“I know that,” confirmed Siwon, a little hollowly. Somehow, that hurt. He had reasoned away his feelings, that much was true, but there was something about hearing Heechul say that his flirting was just a joke that actually hurt a little.
They paused in the hallway, Heechul pulling back a little so that Siwon’s arm was dragged behind him. Heechul’s smirk was amused, mischievous, more of a grin. “You want it to be true, don’t you?” he said, and Siwon’s breath caught in his throat. “You really want me to mean it when I tell you that I want to sleep with you.”
Siwon just stared at him. “W-wha - how did you-”
“It’s written all over your pretty boy face, Siwonnie,” purred Heechul, and good God, thought Siwon, as Heechul pressed himself up against him. He pulled Siwon’s head down - Siwon was now incapable of moving - and whispered into his ear. “You want me.”
“Clearly,” said Siwon, in a slightly choked voice, trying to make it back into a joke. This was totally not how it was supposed to go, because it wasn’t supposed to go at all. His feelings were supposed to completely secret and downtrodden, and anyway, Hankyung had never shown any interest, and any interest on Heechul’s side had appeared nothing more than simply flirting. Except this didn’t appear to be simple flirting, as Heechul’s hand slipped under his shirt, fingertips almost ice-cold against his stomach.
“Heechul,” he said, voice tense and hoarse, but Heechul just ignored him and pressed closer, and then before Siwon could even think about what was about to happen, Heechul pressed his lips to his.
It was much softer than Siwon was expecting, but it was Heechul and Siwon quickly fell into the pressure that was quickly applied, forgetting everything except from the feeling of Heechul’s hair against his fingertips, and Heechul’s fingertips pressed to his stomach. Heechul’s eyes fluttered shut as he moaned slightly, and just as Siwon’s eyes were about to do the same, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and he jerked away quickly.
It was Hankyung, standing at the end of the hallway, staring at them. Siwon’s eyes widened, and as Heechul reached up to kiss him again, Hankyung dropped the glass he was holding. It shattered, water flying everywhere, and Heechul looked up and glanced towards the end of the hallway. Casually, he removed his hand from under Siwon’s shirt, and then touched his fingers to his bottom lip, smirking. Hankyung turned and left the house.
It was Siwon who went after him, shouting his name. Hankyung ignored him, but didn’t speed up, so all Siwon had to do was run a little faster to catch up. “Hankyung,” he said desperately. “Hankyung, it’s not-”
Hankyung turned around and punched him in the jaw.
Siwon didn’t fall over, but it was enough to make him stumble back a few steps. He stared, shocked into complete silence, as Hankyung glared at him, flexing his fingers. Hankyung cursed in Chinese.
“What the fuck was that for!” Siwon yelled, anger suddenly flaring up inside him.
“What do you think?” Hankyung screamed. “What was that back there, how could you fucking do that to me?”
“Wait,” said Siwon, narrowing his eyes at Hankyung. “Do you mean you and Heechul were - you know - dating?”
Hankyung paused for a second. “Well,” he said. “No.”
Siwon scowled at him. “So I don’t understand what your point is,” he said.
“We slept together, okay,” Hankyung said loudly, angrily. “A few nights ago, at my flat. He - he came around and we just, we sort of-”
“God, I get it!” Siwon shouted over the top, and then his voice lowered. There was something knotting in stomach, making him want to throw up. It was anger, true, red-hot anger, but there was something else there too, something that he couldn’t place but almost more potent. “I get it. I see. What gives you the right to judge me when I’m not the one who slept with him and then didn’t even tell his best friend.”
“Oh, don’t give me that,” said Hankyung; Siwon had never heard him be like this before, so scornful and dismissive. “You know perfectly well where that would have gone if I hadn’t conveniently interrupted you.”
“But-” Where would it have gone, Siwon wondered. Would he have slept with Heechul? The horrifying truth was that he actually would have, if Heechul had offered. His answer must have been written all over his face, because Hankyung snorted and muttered something in Chinese. Siwon’s anger exploded again.
“But I didn’t, did I?” he yelled. “No thanks to you. What, you couldn’t take that he clearly didn’t want you again, you had to ruin my chances?”
“What makes you think he didn’t want me again?” Hankyung shouted back, fists clenched.
“Well, he clearly decided I was a better idea,” said Siwon snidely. Hankyung glared at him, and for the first time Siwon noticed the tears unshed in his eyes, the hurt and betrayal written all over his face. He faltered, and then reached out for him. “Hankyung,” he said. “Hankyung, I’m sor-”
“Fuck you,” said Hankyung, and he turned around and walked off. Siwon watched as he disappeared around the corner, and then turned back to the house where music was still blasting from. Heechul was standing at the gate. Siwon looked at him, shocked, and then Heechul smirked at him, and then turned around and disappeared. Siwon just stood there.
***
Siwon avoided the others come Monday. While it was Hankyung who he had argued with, it was Heechul that he really didn’t want to run into - he didn’t want to be reminded any further of that kiss, and he certainly didn’t want to be reminded that he wanted more. How was he supposed to talk to Heechul about where that kiss was going, where it might still have been leading, when there was clearly something going on between Hankyung and Heechul?
Except, when Siwon did see Heechul, he was with Donghae, and Hankyung was nowhere to be seen. Siwon actually hid from them, standing around the corner as they walked past in the corridor, and Heechul was saying something, sounding annoyed. All Siwon heard was Donghae’s reply; “Maybe you’ve pushed it too far now.”
Were they talking about Hankyung? Him, maybe? How were they supposed to work through the terrible mess that this had become; Siwon was increasingly finding that he was unable to lay the blame on Heechul. He felt no anger towards Heechul, because -
“Okay,” he said, when Hankyung opened the door to his apartment. Hankyung quickly tried to shut it, but Siwon forced his foot between the door and the doorframe and stopped him. “This is just ridiculous, Hankyung.”
“What?” Hankyung said, looking like he honestly hadn’t understood. Siwon had found out that he hadn’t actually turned up for school that day, and from the look of him, he hadn’t actually slept any since Saturday. The areas under his eyes dark, he looked ruffled and uncomfortable, and he was just blinking slowly at Siwon.
“Ridiculous,” said Siwon in Chinese. “This whole thing.”
Hankyung sighed, and motioned for him to come in. His white t-shirt was creased at the back. He threw himself down on a chair, legs curled up underneath him. Siwon sat down on another chair, and laughed hollowly. “Are you killing yourself over Kim Heechul? Because I mean, seriously, this is just what Heechul is like, and we should know it.”
“I know that,” said Hankyung. Siwon raised his eyebrows, because he’d clearly understood the Korean this time. Hankyung sighed again. “I know what Heechul is like. I know that he plays games and that he’s just in it for the fun of it. But it still hurts.”
“I know,” said Siwon quietly, because somewhere along the line he had realised that that potent sickness he had felt on finding out Hankyung and Heechul had slept together had been hurt; but perhaps it had been a bit different to the hurt that Hankyung had felt. “I know how you feel.”
“How could you,” said Hankyung, and he didn’t sound annoyed or angry, just resigned. “It’s not like you had anything other than a drunken kiss.”
Hankyung didn’t meant for it to sound as mean as it came out, and Siwon knew this from the way his eyes were locked onto Siwon’s, desperate for him to understand him past his limited Korean. Siwon shook his head slowly. “No,” he said. “No, I do know how you feel. Because you kept it from me, Hankyung. How was I supposed to know that I couldn’t kiss Heechul if you hadn’t told me what had happened between the two of you?”
“I was going to tell you,” said Hankyung softly. “But how do you find the right time? And I thought - I needed to talk to Heechul first, to find out what was happening between the two of us.”
“Only he never gave you a chance,” said Siwon. “Because he turned around and practically assaulted me.” Hankyung looked up from his knees at that, and he grinned a little.
“Assaulted,” he repeated. “Is it assault if you want it?”
“This is Heechul,” said Siwon. “We know him. And we want him and he probably wanted a little fun and wanted to mess around. I can’t even be angry at him, Hankyung, because this is just what he’s like.”
“I’m not angry at him,” said Hankyung. “I’m angry at myself for fucking falling for it, even though I do know him. He was just sort of there - you know what I mean, you’ve seen him do it to other people - and I couldn’t say no.”
“I understand,” said Siwon softly.
“I’m sorry,” said Hankyung suddenly. “I’m sorry for Saturday, I was just so - angry, at the whole thing. I didn’t mean to-”
“No,” said Siwon quickly. “No, I was the one who - god, Hankyung, I said some horrible things, and I didn’t mean them at all, I just-” He had felt something that made him want to hurt Hankyung on that night, something that had made him desperate to show Hankyung how much it had hurt him, finding out that Hankyung had slept with Heechul, because it had been then, hadn’t it? When Hankyung had told him about sleeping with Heechul, that was when the hurt had begun, and Siwon had just assumed that it was all to do with Heechul. But what if it hadn’t been? What if it had been-
“God,” he whispered, and Hankyung looked at him curiously. “I felt betrayed,” Siwon said, more working things through in his mind than anything else. “Because you’d had Heechul, but - but it was worse than that, because you’d - you’d chosen-”
“What?” Hankyung was staring at him, confused.
“You’d chosen Heechul,” said Siwon, understanding rushing through his blood. “You’d chosen Heechul over me.”
“Wait, what?” Hankyung sat up suddenly, staring at him. “What do you mean, I’d chosen Heechul over you?”
“You slept with Heechul,” said Siwon. “And you chose Heechul, and I-”
“I didn’t choose Heechul,” said Hankyung. “Heechul - it was Heechul who - and not over you, I couldn’t - oh fuck.”
He stopped, because Siwon had suddenly moved to take hold of the tops of his arms, gripping almost desperately. “What do you mean?” he asked, hands shaking even as they held.
Hankyung made a noise in the back of his throat: it was at once both exasperated and fearful. “I didn’t choose Heechul over you,” he said, softly, in Chinese. “I didn’t, because I can’t do that. I have never been able to do that.”
“Have never?” Siwon repeated, a little dumbly, and then he tentatively moved forward, and Hankyung moved forward too, until their foreheads were touching and Siwon could feel breath against his lips - and then the door to the apartment flew open.
“Oh good,” said Heechul, as he stalked into the room, apparently not noticing the way the two people in the room were blushing, Siwon standing awkwardly in the middle of the room from where he’d jumped away. “I thought I’d find you here, Siwon.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Hankyung, but in his panic he had spoken in Chinese, so Heechul didn’t actually understand the highly suspicious question. However, he had heard the almost-hysteria in Hankyung’s voice, and raised an eyebrow.
“Okay,” he said. “Right, well, clearly I saw you fighting on Saturday night - and I must say that it was very nice, having two guys fight over me, I should probably try it again sometimes - and then Donghae told me that I should fix it and tell you the truth.”
“Since when did you listen to Donghae?” asked Siwon, unable to keep the smile from his lips. Heechul tossed him a cool look.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Although I’m never doing it again, because you aren’t even angry at me, are you? I knew you weren’t avoiding me.”
“How could we be angry at you?” asked Hankyung, smiling slightly. “The services you provide are too good for us to remain angry.”
“Yeah, well, you’d know all about those services, wouldn’t you?” Heechul’s smirk made Siwon’s stomach constrict, but not in a bad way; suddenly he was imagining Heechul’s mouth pressed to Hankyung chest, and it was one of the hottest things he had ever imagined.
“Okay,” continued Heechul. “Here’s the deal. I don’t want one of you, or the other.” Siwon blinked a little. “I want you both.”
Siwon certainly hadn’t been expecting that. He just sort of stared, and was vaguely aware of Hankyung doing the same. “What?” he asked, voice slightly hoarse.
“I want you both,” repeated Heechul, and for the first time Siwon noticed the way his hands were shaking down by his sides. He’s nervous, he thought, and that was far more shocking than what Heechul had said - because Heechul was sexual, but Heechul was never unsure. “I mean,” said Heechul, going on, and he sounded a little annoyed, perhaps at himself. “I wouldn’t complain if I only got one of you, but I’d prefer to have you both.”
“And I suppose, what you want, you get?” asked Hankyung, as if he was just checking, but he knew, just like Siwon did, that it was really a statement of fact. Heechul nodded coolly. “What if you don’t get either of us?”
Heechul snorted. “Highly unlikely,” he said, and he titled his hips slightly; as one, Hankyung and Siwon’s eyes were drawn to the movement. Heechul smirked. “See?”
“All I see,” said Hankyung, a hint of a smirk playing on his own lips, “is someone who is about to be disappointed.”
“What?” Heechul frowned a little, and he was unable to keep the shock from showing on his face, unable to hide the widening of his eyes, as Hankyung stood up, and took Siwon’s wrist, pulled him around, and then kissed him.
Maybe it was just because he knew that Heechul was watching, but in the split second before Hankyung pressed his lips to his own, Siwon’s mind thought fuck it, and he threw himself into the kiss, and it was easily just as good as when Heechul had kissed him, Hankyung’s tongue soon touching his own, Siwon’s hand against the back of Hankyung’s neck to pull him closer. Hankyung’s hands managed to get between their bodies, fingers coming up to work at the buttons on his shirts - and then Heechul was dragging one of Hankyung’s hands away, so they broke apart, breathing heavily; Siwon’s lips were numb.
“Okay,” said Heechul, and he didn’t seem angry or annoyed, and he pulled Hankyung’s hand down to his hip, and when he let go, Hankyung’s hand stayed. Heechul raised an eyebrow, and head tipped back slightly, triumph on his face, turned his attention to Siwon. “Okay,” he repeated, and then he surged up and kissed Siwon.
Hankyung, Siwon suddenly realised, had been a done thing with Heechul: he knew that Hankyung would be willing, because Hankyung already had been willing. Siwon, on the other hand, had been an uncertainty, because beyond that kiss, there hadn’t been anything concrete.
So when Heechul kissed him, he kissed him with everything he had, and Siwon, still reeling from kissing Hankyung, had to sink down onto the sofa, pulling Heechul down onto his lap. Heechul had both hands pressed to his cheeks, his legs asunder, right knee digging into Siwon’s stomach. Siwon felt like he was dying.
He felt a touch at his shoulder, and he dragged himself away to glance at Hankyung, who had one knee on the sofa next to him, looking at him with a strange look on his face. Siwon opened his mouth to say something, he had no idea what, or whether he was even capable of speech, and then Heechul jumped forward and kissed Hankyung - one hand still holding onto Siwon’s collar, fingers twisted possessively.
“Hey,” he said, when he broke away from Hankyung, Hankyung unconsciously leaning forward to stop the loss of contact. Heechul slid his gaze across to Siwon, and smirked, and for a sudden, strange moment, Siwon wanted to bite at his shoulder.
“Why don’t we try something?” Heechul said. He pressed his fingers to the skin near Siwon’s collarbone, slipping past his collar, and then pressed his mouth to the spot above Hankyung’s t-shirt collar, and Siwon understood what they could try.
“Yes,” he said. The word felt like a release, the acceptance of knowing that yes, he did want the two in front of him freeing him suddenly. He could admit it, now. He wanted to watch Heechul with his mouth around Hankyung’s cock; wanted Hankyung to watch as he fucked Heechul; wanted Heechul to watch as he and Hankyung kissed slowly. Hankyung laughed, a tremor in the noise.
“I cannot believe that we’re going to do this,” he said.
“It was always on the cards,” said Heechul. “I mean, this is me we’re talking about. I’m irresistible.”
“This is my apartment,” said Hankyung, standing up lazily. He reached down and pulled Heechul to his feet, and then helped Siwon up. “You might be careful with what you say, I can always throw you out.”
“Mmm,” said Heechul, and he trailed his fingers up the inside of Hankyung’s jeans and then rested his fingertips against his crotch. “I’m sure that won’t be happening.”
Hankyung reached out to pull Siwon to him to kiss him deeply, and Siwon couldn’t see what Heechul was doing, but was only aware of Hankyung gasping into his mouth at one point, and then Hankyung’s hands were against his shoulders and pushing him back. “Bedroom,” he said in a breathless tone. Heechul laughed in a triumphant way, and then took Siwon’s hand.
“Come on,” he said, dark mischief in his eyes. “I’ll show you the way.”
Siwon laughed. “I already know the way,” he said. “I’ve been in Hankyung’s bedroom before.”
“Not in this way, you haven’t,” said Hankyung wryly, and Heechul kissed Siwon, fingers hooked into his belt hoops, and dragged him forward until all three fell through Hankyung’s bedroom door.
Heechul lay down.
Siwon hesitated.
“Come on,” said Heechul, smirking at him, as Hankyung looked at him curiously. “Prude.”
“It’s not that,” said Siwon, rolling his eyes. “I’m just wondering how we’re supposed to fit on that bed.”
Heechul laughed again, one arm flung out over the edge of Hankyung’s single bed. “With great difficulty,” he said, and then sat up and held a hand out to Siwon. “You’re the genius,” he said. “Make it work.”
Siwon shook his head in slight exasperation and took Heechul’s hand and clambered onto the bed. He knelt above Heechul and kissed him, hands pressed to the pillow either side of Heechul’s head, and Heechul’s hands tangled in his hair. He became aware of Hankyung’s fingers undoing the buttons on his shirt, and when he lifted his head to look at him, Heechul moaned in annoyance.
“Why did I want you both?” he asked. “All this means is that I have to share.”
Siwon grinned at Hankyung, who nodded. “Or,” said Hankyung, leaning in to whisper in Heechul’s ear. “This way you get twice the attention.”
Siwon, in response to this, ran his fingers across the band of skin where Heechul’s t-shirt had ridden up, and then slowly undid the button on his jeans. Hankyung pressed his lips to the spot underneath Heechul’s ear. Heechul’s breath caught as Siwon began on his zip, and the sound sparked straight to Siwon’s groin, and he reached out and put his free hand on the back of Hankyung’s thigh; Hankyung was shaking.
Then, as if on a cue that had gone unspoken, Hankyung and Heechul were kissing fiercely, and Siwon was dragging Heechul’s jeans down over his thighs, and then he stopped, hands on Heechul’s hips. Heechul seemed to realise by the sudden stillness, as he tore himself away from Hankyung and glanced at him. Understanding bloomed across his face, and he threw himself back down on the bed.
“Fuck,” he said. “God save me from the fucking virgins.”
Siwon blushed hotly, but Hankyung just reached down and nipped Heechul’s thigh. Heechul gasped again, part outrage, part something else, as his hand shot out to pull Hankyung down. Hankyung evaded it, and instead took hold of Siwon’s hand and put it on the waistband of Heechul’s underwear.
“Don’t worry,” he said in Chinese, eyes alight with something that Siwon could not place at that point in time, and never has been able to place since. It was the only time he ever saw it in Hankyung’s eyes. “We all have to start sometime.” He turned to raise an eyebrow at Heechul. “Not all of us are born with inherent abilities,” he said. Heechul snorted.
“Inherent?” he said, scornfully. “I had to train to get this good.”
“So train me,” said Siwon suddenly, and then he stripped Heechul from the waist down. Heechul hummed in his throat.
“You don’t need training,” he said, sitting up on his elbows. “Just kiss me and go with what you feel.”
Siwon hesitated for a moment, and then crawled back up Heechul’s body and kissed him, Hankyung moving a little out of the way to make room. He told himself to just take it careful, to think about what he was doing, but suddenly Hankyung’s hands were unzipping his pants and slipping under his waistband, and Heechul was moaning as Siwon kissed his neck, one leg wrapped around his waist, and Hankyung was gasping into his ear as Heechul jerked his wrist.
“I knew we could make this work,” Heechul whispered, just before Siwon came.
***
Siwon blinked a little as he opened his front door and found Heechul and Hankyung standing on his doorstep, Hankyung’s arm around Heechul’s waist, cigarette held between his fingers casually. “Hey,” said Heechul, smirking at him. “Go put some shoes on, we’re going out.”
“We are?” Siwon look curiously at Hankyung.
“Apparently so,” said Hankyung easily, with the tone of someone who was just accepting what he was being told. Siwon shrugged, pulled on a pair of shoes, and shouted that he was going out to his mother, and then left quickly, before she could stop him.
“So where are we going?” he asked, as they turned the corner out of his street.
“It’s a surprise,” said Heechul, and he slipped away from Hankyung to walk a little ahead, leading the way to the place that neither Siwon nor Hankyung knew. Siwon rolled his eyes and put his arm across Hankyung’s shoulders.
It still felt a little weird, being like this. It had only been less than a week since they had first slept together, but in many ways it didn’t seem like anything had changed. There was still the easy flirting, except that now there was the knowledge in the back of Siwon’s mind that at some point, it was possible to follow up on what he said.
They had ended up at Heechul’s house three nights before, and had watched half of a film until Heechul had crawled into Hankyung’s lap, his hand guiding Siwon’s mouth to his. Heechul lived with his older sister, who had taken one look at his ‘friends’ and, with Heechul looking on with a smirk, ran her fingers through Hankyung’s hair, slid her hand across Siwon’s hip, and told them that if Heechul ever grew bored, she was perfectly willing to take his place.
“Or,” she said, winking at Siwon, “if you ever grow bored of Heechul.”
Siwon didn’t think that was likely, because he had known Heechul for almost a year without the promise of sex and hadn’t grown bored of him then. Heechul would still flirt with anything that moved, and would probably still assault them in some way, but Siwon had no doubt that it was he and Hankyung that he would come back to in the end, ‘my boys’, as he had taken to calling him.
Siwon slid his gaze along to Hankyung, who was watching Heechul with smile that held a hint of a leer. Hankyung, who had probably always known the feelings that Siwon had hidden inside him, and who had been torn between his two best friends. No, Siwon would never get bored of Hankyung either.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” said Hankyung. Heechul paused as he pushed open the door to the salon, and glanced back coolly.
“What?” he said. “You need new haircuts, and I fancy a change.”
“But I don’t have any money,” Siwon pointed out. He felt it was a good point, really, but Heechul just rolled his eyes.
“I know the head stylist,” he said. “It’s free. Just get the fuck in here, okay?”
Once inside, Hankyung and Siwon stood a little off the doorway as Heechul sauntered up to a tall, handsome man who looked to be a few years older than them. The guy looked away from the girl he was standing behind as Heechul neared, and his face broke into a grin and he whistled low at the sight of Heechul.
“You,” he said, hugging Heechul tightly, “look like you’re getting regular sex.”
Hankyung raised an eyebrow at Siwon, but Heechul didn’t blink an eyelid. “Well, I am completely fuckable, as you’d know,” he purred, and the man raked his eyes over his body slowly and then laughed, before he noticed Hankyung and Siwon standing by the door. He seemed to understand immediately.
“Kim Heechul,” he said, shaking his head a little fondly. “If I didn’t know you so well, I’d be scandalized.”
“Sorry, Jay,” said Heechul, patting him on the hip. “You just weren’t enough for you.”
“You wound me,” said the man dryly, and then motioned for Siwon and Hankyung to come closer. As they did, he held out his hand and shook theirs. “Hi,” he said. “I’m Jay, and I highly doubt Heechul has ever mentioned me before.”
“He just can’t get over being another fling,” said Heechul heavily, and then dragged Hankyung forward by his arm, and slipped his hand into Siwon’s back pocket. “Hankyung and Choi Siwon,” he said, by way of introduction. “They need haircuts.”
Jay peered at them thoughtfully, and then whistled again. “You did good,” he said to Heechul. “But you’re right, they do need a change.”
“I like my hair,” said Siwon doubtfully.
“Siwon,” said Heechul, almost-patience. “Shut up and just accept the damn haircut. You need some sort of style.”
“I have style,” protested Siwon. Hankyung was laughing at him, he knew.
“Yeah,” said Heechul. “Bookworm style, it won’t do.”
“I think,” said Hankyung, with a grin. “He’s trying to make us worthy of him.”
“Kyungie gets it,” said Heechul with a smirk, and he reached out and pushed Hankyung forward, and Jay motioned for a girl to come over, who led an unresisting Hankyung to a chair in front of a mirror. Heechul turned his attention to Siwon, smirking up at him.
“What do you say, Siwonnie?” he asked, but it wasn’t really a question, because they both knew that Siwon would just roll with it. Siwon nodded, very slowly, and Heechul practically beamed, except this was Heechul and he never did that. He pulled on his arm and sat him down in a chair, and then went into the corner of the room to discuss what they were going to do with their hair.
“And so we go,” said Siwon, in a deep, mocking tone, “into the abyss.”
“Don’t let go,” said Hankyung, and made a show of reaching out for Siwon’s hand to grip it. By the time Heechul came back over, they were laughing so hard that he actually hit them over the head.
“Stop that,” he said, glaring at them. “You’re showing me up.”
“No, you can do that without our help,” said Hankyung easily. Heechul hit him again, before turning and motioning for the two girls standing in front of Jay to come forward. One of them stood behind Siwon and he smiled pleasantly at her, and Heechul reached forward and snagged both of the girls by the collar.
“Look, but don’t touch,” he said. “No, in fact, don’t even look.”
The two girls looked suddenly terrified, but Jay just laughed and physically pulled Heechul away. “I have an idea,” was the last thing they heard him say before he went to an enclosed area at the back of the salon. “You’re going to have to trust me with this.”
An hour and a half later, Siwon was staring at himself in the mirror, hand hovering over his head, unwilling to touch it but not really believing it. “My hair wasn’t long enough for this,” he said.
“It’s all about the right cut,” said his stylist, a cheerful girl with long black hair down to her waist. “It makes it look longer than it is.”
“Oh, is it finished?” Hankyung looked up curiously from the magazine he had been attempting to read - his Korean didn’t lend itself that well to it - while he waited for whatever his own stylist had done with his hair to take effect, and he looked at Siwon and then froze, mouth open. “What,” he said.
“It looks awful,” said Siwon, a little resigned. “And I can’t even blame it on Heechul, he will never take blame.”
“It does not look awful,” said Hankyung, hoarse. “Fuck me, Siwon.”
“Later,” said Siwon, almost absently, as he fluffed at his hair in the mirror. He looked nervously at his hair. “Does it really look that good?” he asked, doubtful.
“Of course it does,” said Heechul’s voice from behind them. They turned to see him with his hair in the same sort of foil as Hankyung’s. “I told them to do it like that, of course it was going to look good.”
“Oh,” said Siwon, and turned back to the mirror. Heechul rolled his eyes.
“Who do you think you are?” he asked. “Me?”
“I wish,” said Siwon, and Hankyung reached out and pulled Heechul down onto the seat next to him, arm slung across his shoulder.
“What are you getting done?” he asked. Heechul tapped the side of his nose.
“It’s a surprise,” he said.
“What am I getting done?” Hankyung asked, glancing at Siwon in the mirror.
“That’s an even bigger surprise,” said Heechul, and he stood up and nudged Siwon with his hip. “Call me over when Hankyung’s hair gets revealed,” he said. “I doubt he’ll be able to speak afterwards.”
“Um, okay,” said Siwon, and watched as Heechul sauntered back over to Jay. Hankyung looked after him mournfully, clearly wanting to know what his hair was going to look like, and the worst thing was that Heechul was actually correct, because when he looked in the mirror after everything was complete, Hankyung spluttered in Chinese and then fell completely silent.
“Oh my god,” said Siwon in a hushed voice, and then shouted, without taking his eyes off Hankyung’s hair, “Heechul, he’s finished!”
“Oh good,” said Heechul’s voice. “I’ve just finished too.”
Siwon tore his eyes away for a split second to glance at Heechul, and then did a complete double take. “Fuck,” he said. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
“That’s the reaction I was looking for,” said Heechul, flicking his now red hair from his eyes with a casual hand. “I would ask what you thought, but since you clearly want to fuck me right now, I won’t.” He looked away from Siwon to look at Hankyung, who was still staring at himself in the mirror. Heechul walked forward and draped his arms over his shoulders, and murmured into his ear, just loud enough for Siwon to be able to hear. “I can’t wait to get you both home. That’s when the fun starts.”
“I’m blonde,” said Hankyung, hoarsely.
“Sexy, too,” said Heechul. “Don’t forget sexy.”
Hankyung touched the bottom of his hair, and Heechul ran his hands through it, and then reached out and did the same to Siwon’s hair. Then he stood up. “Come on,” he said, smirking at them. “Remember, Hankyung, blondes have more fun. And you know what they say about redheads.”
“Well, what does that make me?” Siwon asked, standing up and pulling a still shell-shocked Hankyung to his feet. Heechul smirked at him.
“Well,” he purred, putting his arms around the back of Siwon’s neck, and pulling up so that their lips brushed. “I suppose you get to see what they say about redheads.”
***
They caused a stir when they walked into school on Monday. Their hair would have been bad enough, but the fact that Siwon had his arm wrapped around Heechul’s shoulders, who had his arm around Hankyung’s waist, meant that everyone was very aware of some sort of a change in the relationship. Donghae met them with a grin but didn’t comment; perhaps he had seen it coming anyway. Donghae was incredibly intelligent for someone who was capable of looking so blank faced.
They sat at lunch on their usual table on the field, Heechul in Siwon’s lap, kicking at Hankyung with his feet whenever he said something that Heechul took to be vaguely insulting or stupid. Siwon rested his chin on his hair and then laughed when Heechul shook him off in annoyance, and then the noise was cut off by Heechul jumping forward and kissing him quickly. He tasted like cigarette smoke and coffee, and Siwon couldn’t help but make some sort of connection in his mind about Heechul and addiction.
Except then Hankyung put his hand on the small of his back, fingers curling slightly, Siwon remembered kissing Hankyung, who tasted like mint and the slight bitterness of green tea, and Siwon didn’t even like green tea, but he was probably in love with Hankyung, and he was probably in love with Heechul too.
He grinned at Hankyung, who grinned back and circled Heechul’s ankle with his fingers, loose but intimate. Heechul reached out and took Hankyung’s free hand, and then pressed his face to Siwon’s neck, mouth open. Siwon struggled to work out what Donghae was saying.
Donghae rolled his eyes. Heechul later said that he was just jealous. Siwon didn’t blame him: he would be too.