Friends and Blessings
Title: Friends and Blessings
Length: 1/1
Author: Kurokitsune09
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General/Semi-Romance
Focus: Yonghwa and various 91-er male Idols
Sub-Focus: YongSeo
Notes: AU. And I’ve just decided that a good chunk of male 91ers suddenly became Seohyun’s good friends. Hopefully this makes you laugh. And yeah, I know. I left out some 91ers.
Inspiration: I’m sure Seohyun-ah’s SNSD unnies are pretty terrifying. But what about her same aged MALE friends?
Summary: Of all of his fiancée’s connections, he hated her same aged male friends the most. They terrified him.
He had planned it for months, months and months. Absolutely months worth of planning brought him to this. The thing that was going to be his most epic party ever. It was going to be great, amazing and he’d have a brilliant time because the love of his life said yes to his proposal and this was also going to double as a pseudo-bachelor party (said Joonie-hyung) and it would be good. That was what he seriously thought…until Jung Yonghwa saw who stepped in through the front doors of the club he booked just minutes after his party kicked off. And it wasn’t just one who. It was many whos. Many, many whos that terrified the crap out of him.
“Oh shit! Hide me!” and one of Yonghwa’s close friends, Lee Kikwang blinked dumbly when the taller male dived behind him and ducked underneath the table he was sitting at. He hissed when Yonghwa kicked his legs and he shook his head before turning his eyes to find whatever it was that made him friend so terrified. He blinked when he saw nothing wrong with the group at the door and with a bewildered expression; he turned towards Yonghwa, who was now cowering right next to his shoes.
“Hyung, get out from underneath the table. You look ridiculous,” Kikwang said flatly and he tried to kick the older man out. He turned when he noticed that the group had begun walk more towards the interior of the club and one of them said lightly, “Find him. And when you do, don’t let him out of your sights alright?”
At that, there were a series of nods and Kikwang noticed that a few of the taller ones (well, they were all pretty tall but the tallest ones anyways) began turning their heads, scanning the various faces in the crowds. And before they all parted ways, a tall handsome fellow looked at the twittering crowds then back at his friends.
“Don’t make a scene. We’re not here to cause trouble.”
The next instant they were gone, various forms disappearing into the crowds and around tables.
“Kikwang-ah,” Yonghwa’s voice was meek and he looked down. “Are they gone?”
“If you’re talking about them splitting up then yeah, they’re gone but if you’re asking if they’re out of the club then that’s a no. On the other hand, they aren’t near us,” and Kikwang was amused as Yonghwa seemed to really deflate before he carefully came out from beneath the table. Kikwang drummed his fingers on the table in amusement. “Who are they to make you so terrified anyways?"
“They’re the 91 line,” Yonghwa whispered and Kikwang raised an eyebrow. At that stare, he flushed. “Yes I know I’m whispering and it’s pathetic but if I say it too loudly, they’ll show up and I don’t want them to.”
“And this 91 line,” Kikwang rolled his eyes when Yonghwa hissed at him, “Kiki! Not so loud!”
“Anyways, this 91 line (“KIKI!”) scares you to bits because?” Kikwang asked. Yonghwa was clearly super, super jumpy and he tugged nervously at the collar of his shirt before looking back at Kikwang. Kikwang’s brows furrowed in confusion when Yonghwa’s eyes seemed to widen, almost filling half his face and with a terrified shriek that did nothing for his (currently dying) manliness, he turned around and bolted into the crowds. Kikwang frowned. “Yah! Hyung!”
“Damn. Almost had him,” the growl was low at his ears, someone’s breath gently just brushing the back of his neck and Kikwang found himself shrieking in fear, lurching forward. He actually missed the table he was sitting at (which he was planning to catch to fix his balance but alas, he missed,) and he ended up in a crumpled heap next to the table and his over turned chair.
“Ow,” he moaned pathetically and he blinked blearily as someone’s shoes appeared in his vision.
“Well, Damn. Sorry about that Kikwang-sunbae,” said someone and Kikwang almost flinched when someone grabbed his arm and pulled him up. He stumbled and blinked dumbly at the young man looking apologetically at him. It took him a moment before he recognized Son Dongwoon. “I didn’t mean to scare you like that. I was looking for Yonghwa-sunbae and didn’t realize I came that close.”
“Dongwoon-sshi,” Kikwang still looked a little blank and his head tilted in confusion before looking at Dongwoon, then the direction Yonghwa fled in. It took a moment then, “Dongwoon-sshi, you’re a year younger than me right? A 91er?”
Dongwoon’s brows furrowed but he said slowly, “Yes sunbae.”
“And you’re friends with Seo Juhyun-yang? Yonghwa-hyung’s fiancée?”
Dongwoon’s lips seemed to thin but he replied slowly, “Yes. I am.”
It was as if a light bulb went off in his brain.
“And the people you came in with, are they your friends too?”
“Yes sunbae why do-“ Dongwoon’s brows furrowed as Kikwang cut him off almost excitedly,
“Are they friends with Seohyun-yang too?”
“Yes but why-“ and Dongwoon swallowed when the older man eagerly leaned up to him.
“Are you all born in 91?”
“Kikwang-sunbae, why are you asking?” Dongwoon finally managed to spit out and Kikwang just smiled.
“Are you all born in 91?” he repeated lightly. Dongwoon’s lips thinned and he shook his head.
“Look Kikwang-sunbae, I don’t really have time to play 20 questions with you. Yes, I’m born in 91. Yes, my friends and I are all friends with Seohyunnie and yes, we’re all 91ers alright?” Dongwoon’s face morphed into an annoyed scowl and he looked off into the crowds, watching as his auburn-orange haired friend took off into a run. “Now if you’ll excuse me sunbae,”
Dongwoon took off, his tall form melting easily into the crowds. Grinning, Kikwang waved him goodbye. He shook his head before righting his chair.
“So that’s what Yonghwa-hyung meant by the 91 line.”
---
Yonghwa supposed he made quite the sight as he ran through the throngs of people. Behind him were at least three others and damn were they fast.
“Keep him away from me!!” was Yonghwa’s hysterical shriek as he dived into a circle of his friends. A few of them blinked and Shin Soohyun let out a surprised sound when he was pulled up by the collar of his shirt and Yonghwa practically spat in his face, “SOOHYUN! SAVE ME!”
“Wha-?“ and he was staring as Yonghwa scrambled, kicking a few friends a few dozen times it seemed and he bolted, shoving Soohyun aside. He let out a surprised shout and immediately a hand crossed his shoulders, fingers gripping his arm and he was staring at one of the school’s taekwondo reps. He blinked dumbly. “Kiseop-ah?”
“Ah, Soohyun-hyung. I’d love stay around and chat but I really got to go,” and he was watching the younger male take off in the direction his friend fled in. “YAH!”
At that, Yonghwa actually stopped for a moment, turned around and barked, “LEE KISEOP! I’m your HYUNG!” then he realized that Kiseop, Nam Woohyun, and Jung Jinwoon were getting quite close. It was the first time that Soohyun actually heard Yonghwa scream like a little girl and the other man ran. Soohyun and a few guests blinked in confusion as a few more people erupted out of the crowds; Son Dongwoon, Choi Minho of the photography club, AJ of the track team; and they took off after Yonghwa’s fleeing back. Soohyun didn’t know if anyone else noticed but he definitely noticed that they were all 91er friends of Yonghwa’s fiancée, Seo Juhyun.
Soohyun just shook his head and prayed that when her friends were through with his friend, that his friend was still alive.
---
Yonghwa had nowhere else to run. Absolutely nowhere else to run as he stared, panting for breath at the wall in front of him. If it weren’t for the thundering footsteps behind him, he would have probably smacked himself because taking the last left turn was not his smartest move. He was a trapped little pig. He swallowed thickly before turning around. Only to see the fist coming straight at him.
He ended up letting out yet another not so manly scream and he ducked, letting Woohyun’s fist smash straight into the wall. Yonghwa waited for the disgusting sound of knuckles breaking open and blood gushing out but all he really ended up hearing was the crinkle of leather gloves. He looked up and was hauled to his feet by Woohyun who slammed him to the wall. Yonghwa’s eyes darted down and he saw the jagged rip in Woohyun’s gloves.
Woohyun had been aiming to hit him hard.
“Hello there Yonghwa-sunbae-hyung,” Woohyun said pleasantly and Yonghwa swallowed thickly when he noted AJ from the Track Team, Jung Jinwoon and Son Dongwoon crack their knuckles threateningly. He felt fear run through his veins as he looked at the other two, Choi Minho, and Lee Kiseop who was in the taekwondo team.
“We’ve been looking for you Yonghwa-sunbae-hyung,” Minho said lightly, siding up next to his friend. Yonghwa squirmed. He saw AJ make a quick motion with his hand and the next second, he was dropped to the floor where he immediately assumed the fetal position.
“Oh please don’t kill me,” he almost begged and AJ raised an amused eyebrow.
“How insulting. We just want to talk a moment,” Jinwoon said. He crossed his arms and Yonghwa’s eyes were drawn to how the younger man’s shirt pulled over his biceps and he dimly realized that one good hit from Jinwoon could probably kill him.
“T-talk?” his voice squeaked and Dongwoon nodded. A smile was thrown at him and he slowly uncurled from his fetal position as he realized that that smile promised pain if he opposed or protested.
“Just a quick chat.” Woohyun said lightly and Yonghwa licked his lips.
He could live through a chat.
”Maybe a mock fight or two,” Kiseop added.
That he probably wouldn’t live through. Especially not if Jinwoon and Kiseop fought him. Actually, he probably wouldn’t live if any of them fought him.
“Definitely a fight if you answer our questions incorrectly,” AJ inputted. Yonghwa swallowed thickly and nodded meekly.
“G-go ahead,”
“You’re the kind of person to run away when there’s any sign of danger aren’t you?” Minho asked simply, moving close to him. “I mean you’re not much of a fighter and your reflexes aren’t that great considering Woohyun-ah almost bashed your face in and he wasn’t even trying.”
“I-it would depend on the situation,” Yonghwa licked his lips again, backing up as Kiseop and Dongwoon frowned at him. It kind of scared him that Nam Woohyun hadn’t even been trying.
“You bolted the moment you saw us come in and you didn’t even know if we were dangerous or not to you,” AJ frowned as he spoke and the younger male stepped forward. “We could have just been guests to the party and yet you bolted.”
“You also have a poor sense of direction. You ran right into a dead end therefore allowing yourself to be trapped by us,”
“I was in a hurry?” Yonghwa didn’t even believe his own words and he was sure that Woohyun didn’t either. None of them probably did. “An-And as for running, you guys always give me such a hard time whenever I see you.”
“So. Other people give you a hard time too. Not just us.” Minho pointed out easily. “You’re obviously the type of person to run even if there isn’t anything wrong on any level.”
“In short, you’re a pretty pathetic person. You run at the first sign of danger, you’re directionally challenged and you’re a lousy fighter.” Woohyun’s voice was flat and Yonghwa felt slightly angry, his brows furrowing.
“That’s just your own observations!” Yonghwa defended hotly. For some reason, this made them rather amused and Yonghwa stood from the ground, facing them. “Look what is this talk about anyways? If you’re trying to bruise my ego, believe me it’s bruised enough. I mean I ran into a dead end!”
“This talk is about Seohyunnie,” Jinwoon said almost solemnly and Yonghwa clamped his mouth shut.
“I don’t see how belittling me is talking about my fiancée.” Yonghwa chose his words carefully. He stepped back when Dongwoon and Jinwoon both stepped forward.
“It has everything to do about Seohyunnie,” Dongwoon said lowly. “Seohyunnie’s been our friend for years, since we were all children and we’ve done everything for her. She’s our SeoBaby despite Minho being younger.”
“We agreed that we wouldn’t step into her love life when she started dating you but since you’ve asked our SeoBaby to marry you, we can’t not step in,” Minho inputted from the side. His voice had dropped in tone and he sounded dangerous.
“You oppose to our engagement then?” Yonghwa asked. Kiseop snorted and AJ said simply, “No. Not that.”
“We trust our SeoBaby’s judgment and to be honest, we kind of like you.” Kiseop said lightly. Yonghwa’s brows furrowed. Then what was the problem?
“What we have a problem with is that you’re incapable of taking care of our Seobaby,” Jinwoon said flatly. Yonghwa blinked in confusion.
“What? Like being able to provide for her?” Yonghwa asked and Woohyun rolled his eyes.
“Not that. Being able to protect her,” Jinwoon said. “Our SeoBaby’s always been protected by us and we’ve seen her through everything that’s come at us. She’s always been safe with us even though we annoy her to no end. She comes to us when there’s a problem, we’ve been her shoulder to cry on many, many times and she knows that she’s safe with us.”
Yonghwa’s eyes narrowed. Then she thought she wasn’t safe with him?
“She thinks that she’s safe with you and we wanted to prove that we could trust her with you,” Jinwoon waved a hand at their situation. “And to be honest, we feel that we can’t. Especially after this. You just can’t seem to protect her from harm and we’re worried that if it does come to a moment where you choose your survival over our SeoBaby, you’d pick your own survival.”
“Excuse me?” the words were out of Yonghwa’s mouth before he knew it and all of sudden, the situation was reversed. Jinwoon actually blinked when the slighter Yonghwa ended up cornering him to the wall. “I’ll have you know that whether or not I can protect Seohyunnie from harm is no business of yours. Her best friends or not.”
“You can’t say that. We know her the best Yonghwa-sunbae-hyung,” Minho pointed out.
“Shut up,” Yonghwa snapped and the younger male silenced in surprise. “I figure that even with my lack of fighting skills, poor direction and my flight-or-fight response, I can still protect Seohyunnie better than all of you combined.”
“How would you do that?” Kiseop asked lightly, holding out an arm when Dongwoon and AJ looked like they were about to protest. He shot them a look and they stilled.
“Because unlike the six of you, I’m sure I’ll have enough brains to not put the woman I love in harms way. I’m not going to go traipsing around the world being a dick and risking putting her in trouble,” Yonghwa barked. “No. And I’m not going to be stupid enough to get us in a situation that we can’t get out of. And if it ever came down to that, which I highly doubt, I’d have myself go through it and I’ll place Seohyunnie with someone who will watch her for me while I’m gone.”
“And if you never come back in such a situation?” Dongwoon challenged. Yonghwa glowered at him.
“It won’t happen. I’ll come back to her because she means that much to me,” Yonghwa stared each and every one of them down. “I’ll be there through everything that you’d helped her through and much more. And if I ever had to chose myself or Seohyun-ah, it’d be Seohyun-ah in a heartbeat. So don’t insult me like that. I don’t like getting into unnecessary situations but I wouldn’t give up anything or anyone I love for my own survival.”
No one rebuked him and Yonghwa’s eyes narrowed, challenging them.
“You got that?” he challenged, his tone dark.
There was a moment where the six of them just exchanged glances then Kiseop, the unofficial spokesperson it seemed, said simply, “You pass.”
Yonghwa faltered, his anger evaporating slightly and he watched as the six of them spread out, no longer cornering him to the dead end. He blinked in confusion and Jinwoon repeated lightly, “You pass Yonghwa-sunbae-hyung.”
“I-what?” Yonghwa asked blankly. And he almost flinched when Minho slung his arm goodnaturedly around his shoulders and the six of them began walking him back out to the front.
“I suppose we should have gone about this a different way I mean, we could have had like Hyungshik, Kevin, Sungyeol and less intimidating ones come talk to you about Seohyunnie or even the girls but Kiseopie, being our unofficial Big Brother since he was born earliest, wanted to see how you’d react to this,” AJ said as they walked. “We love our Seohyunnie and as much as it pains us to have to give, for the lack of a better word, her away to someone else, we wanted to make sure she didn’t make the wrong choice.”
“Okay?” there was a question behind it and Woohyun chuckled lightly.
“We just wanted to see how much you loved our Seohyunnie,” Jinwoon said rather matter-of-factly. Yonghwa stared at him. “I mean, we’re aware that you love her enough to spend the rest of your life with her but we wanted to see if you loved her enough to fight us.”
“We’re her childhood friends and her protectors. If you didn’t have enough guts to fight us over being able to protect our Juhyun-ah, you wouldn’t be waiting at that alter for Juhyun-ah. We wouldn’t let you,” AJ warned lightly as they entered the main club. They stopped for a moment and AJ lightly punched Yonghwa’s shoulders. “But since you did, I suppose you can have our blessings for now.”
There were a few worried glances and the six escorting him just smiled, lightly patted his shoulders before they disappeared into the crowds, Dongwoon leaving him with a light comment of, “Don’t worry. You’re not the only one we do this to. We did it to Jinwoon-ah last Tuesday when we found the ring he was going to propose to Cole-ah with.”
And Yonghwa stood, flabbergasted before he eventually, and numbly, made his way back towards the bar and Kikwang’s table.
Once there, he was immediately bombed by questions from Kikwang and Soohyun, both of them looking quite worried. He wasn’t quite sure how to answer them and just settled for being silent. It was his silence that made the two eventually dive into the crowds with a loud screech of, “YAH! 91 LINE! WHAT DID YOU DO TO YONGHWA!?”
Yonghwa just watched them go, his brows furrowing and he approached the bar, getting a random drink from the tender. It took him a moment before he recognized the bartender as another one of Seohyun’s friends, Sungyeol. Yonghwa paused when he got the glass and he looked at it before looking up.
“You didn’t poison this did you?” his question made a few people look at Sungyeol like he was some sort of criminal. The younger man just snorted air from his nose and replied with a flat,
“No. Kiseop-ah and the others obviously gave you’re their blessings so I’m not going to argue with them.”
Yonghwa went, “Oh.”
“I called Seohyunnie if you wanted to know. I suppose she should hear it first hand that we talked to you instead of hearing it from other people,” Dongwoon voice lowly as he suddenly appeared at the bar. “I mean, I’m sure Kikwang-sunbae would tell her that we poisoned you into silence or something. She’ll be by in a bit.”
“Son Dongwoon! Yah! Don’t you walk away from me!” and Yonghwa blinked as Kikwang stormed up, Dongwoon just gave him a sidelong glance before he disappeared again. Kikwang’s lips pursed in frustration. “Son Dongwoon!”
“So, Yonghwa-sunbae-hyung, need anything else?” Sungyeol asked, leaning on the counter. Yonghwa blinked slowly then he pushed the drink he hadn’t even touched back towards the younger man.
“I think I’ll just have an ice water instead.”
Sungyeol’s eyebrows rose but he didn’t argue and a few seconds later, he slid a glass of water towards the man. Yonghwa just nodded his thanks and the younger man was gone, moving to serve another person.
He sat there for a while, watching the ice cubes melt into the water and he took a straw from the dispenser. He them proceeded to mess with the ice in the cup and when he was bored with that, he let the straw rest on the countertop. He sat there for so long that he didn’t even realize it when there was a light sound and arms wrapped around his neck from behind. The owner giggled and a slender hand reached for the cup, tipping the glass so some of the liquid slid down her throat.
“Plain water oppa? Unlike you,” and Yonghwa smiled softly as his ex-girlfriend now fiancée slid gently around his back to sit next to him at the bar. Seo Juhyun smiled and tilted her head, a faint smile touching her lips. “Kiseop and them talked to you?”
Not exactly “talk” and Yonghwa answered, “Yeah.”
She looked a little worried.
“How’d it go? They didn’t do anything mean did they? Or bodily harming?” Seohyun looked slightly distressed and before she could wring her hands in worry, Yonghwa gently took one of her hands in his, running the pad of his thumb over the back of it. “Oppa?”
“Seohyun-ah, have I told you I’m terrified of your friends?” Yonghwa asked lightly. Seohyun blinked then nodded. It was a common topic and Yonghwa had told her on their third date together after Seohyun had caught Dongwoon and Jinwoon watching them. She threw them out of the restaurant and didn’t talk to them for days.
“They didn’t harm you did they?” and Yonghwa shook his head.
“Your friends are completely terrifying. They really are but I get where they’re coming from. You’re too precious to be left unprotected,” Yonghwa’s voice was soft. Seohyun’s brows furrowed and Yonghwa laughed gently, bringing her hand up to kiss the back. “It’s alright Seohyun-ah. I know how much your friends mean to you. Your boys and I just had a talk.”
“Are you sure? There wasn’t any mock fighting was there?” and Yonghwa shook his head.
“There wasn’t. We just got some things sorted out,” he said gently and Seohyun’s shoulders sagged in relief. He smiled before bringing her close and gently kissed her.
Length: 1/1
Author: Kurokitsune09
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General/Semi-Romance
Focus: Yonghwa and various 91-er male Idols
Sub-Focus: YongSeo
Notes: AU. And I’ve just decided that a good chunk of male 91ers suddenly became Seohyun’s good friends. Hopefully this makes you laugh. And yeah, I know. I left out some 91ers.
Inspiration: I’m sure Seohyun-ah’s SNSD unnies are pretty terrifying. But what about her same aged MALE friends?
Summary: Of all of his fiancée’s connections, he hated her same aged male friends the most. They terrified him.
He had planned it for months, months and months. Absolutely months worth of planning brought him to this. The thing that was going to be his most epic party ever. It was going to be great, amazing and he’d have a brilliant time because the love of his life said yes to his proposal and this was also going to double as a pseudo-bachelor party (said Joonie-hyung) and it would be good. That was what he seriously thought…until Jung Yonghwa saw who stepped in through the front doors of the club he booked just minutes after his party kicked off. And it wasn’t just one who. It was many whos. Many, many whos that terrified the crap out of him.
“Oh shit! Hide me!” and one of Yonghwa’s close friends, Lee Kikwang blinked dumbly when the taller male dived behind him and ducked underneath the table he was sitting at. He hissed when Yonghwa kicked his legs and he shook his head before turning his eyes to find whatever it was that made him friend so terrified. He blinked when he saw nothing wrong with the group at the door and with a bewildered expression; he turned towards Yonghwa, who was now cowering right next to his shoes.
“Hyung, get out from underneath the table. You look ridiculous,” Kikwang said flatly and he tried to kick the older man out. He turned when he noticed that the group had begun walk more towards the interior of the club and one of them said lightly, “Find him. And when you do, don’t let him out of your sights alright?”
At that, there were a series of nods and Kikwang noticed that a few of the taller ones (well, they were all pretty tall but the tallest ones anyways) began turning their heads, scanning the various faces in the crowds. And before they all parted ways, a tall handsome fellow looked at the twittering crowds then back at his friends.
“Don’t make a scene. We’re not here to cause trouble.”
The next instant they were gone, various forms disappearing into the crowds and around tables.
“Kikwang-ah,” Yonghwa’s voice was meek and he looked down. “Are they gone?”
“If you’re talking about them splitting up then yeah, they’re gone but if you’re asking if they’re out of the club then that’s a no. On the other hand, they aren’t near us,” and Kikwang was amused as Yonghwa seemed to really deflate before he carefully came out from beneath the table. Kikwang drummed his fingers on the table in amusement. “Who are they to make you so terrified anyways?"
“They’re the 91 line,” Yonghwa whispered and Kikwang raised an eyebrow. At that stare, he flushed. “Yes I know I’m whispering and it’s pathetic but if I say it too loudly, they’ll show up and I don’t want them to.”
“And this 91 line,” Kikwang rolled his eyes when Yonghwa hissed at him, “Kiki! Not so loud!”
“Anyways, this 91 line (“KIKI!”) scares you to bits because?” Kikwang asked. Yonghwa was clearly super, super jumpy and he tugged nervously at the collar of his shirt before looking back at Kikwang. Kikwang’s brows furrowed in confusion when Yonghwa’s eyes seemed to widen, almost filling half his face and with a terrified shriek that did nothing for his (currently dying) manliness, he turned around and bolted into the crowds. Kikwang frowned. “Yah! Hyung!”
“Damn. Almost had him,” the growl was low at his ears, someone’s breath gently just brushing the back of his neck and Kikwang found himself shrieking in fear, lurching forward. He actually missed the table he was sitting at (which he was planning to catch to fix his balance but alas, he missed,) and he ended up in a crumpled heap next to the table and his over turned chair.
“Ow,” he moaned pathetically and he blinked blearily as someone’s shoes appeared in his vision.
“Well, Damn. Sorry about that Kikwang-sunbae,” said someone and Kikwang almost flinched when someone grabbed his arm and pulled him up. He stumbled and blinked dumbly at the young man looking apologetically at him. It took him a moment before he recognized Son Dongwoon. “I didn’t mean to scare you like that. I was looking for Yonghwa-sunbae and didn’t realize I came that close.”
“Dongwoon-sshi,” Kikwang still looked a little blank and his head tilted in confusion before looking at Dongwoon, then the direction Yonghwa fled in. It took a moment then, “Dongwoon-sshi, you’re a year younger than me right? A 91er?”
Dongwoon’s brows furrowed but he said slowly, “Yes sunbae.”
“And you’re friends with Seo Juhyun-yang? Yonghwa-hyung’s fiancée?”
Dongwoon’s lips seemed to thin but he replied slowly, “Yes. I am.”
It was as if a light bulb went off in his brain.
“And the people you came in with, are they your friends too?”
“Yes sunbae why do-“ Dongwoon’s brows furrowed as Kikwang cut him off almost excitedly,
“Are they friends with Seohyun-yang too?”
“Yes but why-“ and Dongwoon swallowed when the older man eagerly leaned up to him.
“Are you all born in 91?”
“Kikwang-sunbae, why are you asking?” Dongwoon finally managed to spit out and Kikwang just smiled.
“Are you all born in 91?” he repeated lightly. Dongwoon’s lips thinned and he shook his head.
“Look Kikwang-sunbae, I don’t really have time to play 20 questions with you. Yes, I’m born in 91. Yes, my friends and I are all friends with Seohyunnie and yes, we’re all 91ers alright?” Dongwoon’s face morphed into an annoyed scowl and he looked off into the crowds, watching as his auburn-orange haired friend took off into a run. “Now if you’ll excuse me sunbae,”
Dongwoon took off, his tall form melting easily into the crowds. Grinning, Kikwang waved him goodbye. He shook his head before righting his chair.
“So that’s what Yonghwa-hyung meant by the 91 line.”
---
Yonghwa supposed he made quite the sight as he ran through the throngs of people. Behind him were at least three others and damn were they fast.
“Keep him away from me!!” was Yonghwa’s hysterical shriek as he dived into a circle of his friends. A few of them blinked and Shin Soohyun let out a surprised sound when he was pulled up by the collar of his shirt and Yonghwa practically spat in his face, “SOOHYUN! SAVE ME!”
“Wha-?“ and he was staring as Yonghwa scrambled, kicking a few friends a few dozen times it seemed and he bolted, shoving Soohyun aside. He let out a surprised shout and immediately a hand crossed his shoulders, fingers gripping his arm and he was staring at one of the school’s taekwondo reps. He blinked dumbly. “Kiseop-ah?”
“Ah, Soohyun-hyung. I’d love stay around and chat but I really got to go,” and he was watching the younger male take off in the direction his friend fled in. “YAH!”
At that, Yonghwa actually stopped for a moment, turned around and barked, “LEE KISEOP! I’m your HYUNG!” then he realized that Kiseop, Nam Woohyun, and Jung Jinwoon were getting quite close. It was the first time that Soohyun actually heard Yonghwa scream like a little girl and the other man ran. Soohyun and a few guests blinked in confusion as a few more people erupted out of the crowds; Son Dongwoon, Choi Minho of the photography club, AJ of the track team; and they took off after Yonghwa’s fleeing back. Soohyun didn’t know if anyone else noticed but he definitely noticed that they were all 91er friends of Yonghwa’s fiancée, Seo Juhyun.
Soohyun just shook his head and prayed that when her friends were through with his friend, that his friend was still alive.
---
Yonghwa had nowhere else to run. Absolutely nowhere else to run as he stared, panting for breath at the wall in front of him. If it weren’t for the thundering footsteps behind him, he would have probably smacked himself because taking the last left turn was not his smartest move. He was a trapped little pig. He swallowed thickly before turning around. Only to see the fist coming straight at him.
He ended up letting out yet another not so manly scream and he ducked, letting Woohyun’s fist smash straight into the wall. Yonghwa waited for the disgusting sound of knuckles breaking open and blood gushing out but all he really ended up hearing was the crinkle of leather gloves. He looked up and was hauled to his feet by Woohyun who slammed him to the wall. Yonghwa’s eyes darted down and he saw the jagged rip in Woohyun’s gloves.
Woohyun had been aiming to hit him hard.
“Hello there Yonghwa-sunbae-hyung,” Woohyun said pleasantly and Yonghwa swallowed thickly when he noted AJ from the Track Team, Jung Jinwoon and Son Dongwoon crack their knuckles threateningly. He felt fear run through his veins as he looked at the other two, Choi Minho, and Lee Kiseop who was in the taekwondo team.
“We’ve been looking for you Yonghwa-sunbae-hyung,” Minho said lightly, siding up next to his friend. Yonghwa squirmed. He saw AJ make a quick motion with his hand and the next second, he was dropped to the floor where he immediately assumed the fetal position.
“Oh please don’t kill me,” he almost begged and AJ raised an amused eyebrow.
“How insulting. We just want to talk a moment,” Jinwoon said. He crossed his arms and Yonghwa’s eyes were drawn to how the younger man’s shirt pulled over his biceps and he dimly realized that one good hit from Jinwoon could probably kill him.
“T-talk?” his voice squeaked and Dongwoon nodded. A smile was thrown at him and he slowly uncurled from his fetal position as he realized that that smile promised pain if he opposed or protested.
“Just a quick chat.” Woohyun said lightly and Yonghwa licked his lips.
He could live through a chat.
”Maybe a mock fight or two,” Kiseop added.
That he probably wouldn’t live through. Especially not if Jinwoon and Kiseop fought him. Actually, he probably wouldn’t live if any of them fought him.
“Definitely a fight if you answer our questions incorrectly,” AJ inputted. Yonghwa swallowed thickly and nodded meekly.
“G-go ahead,”
“You’re the kind of person to run away when there’s any sign of danger aren’t you?” Minho asked simply, moving close to him. “I mean you’re not much of a fighter and your reflexes aren’t that great considering Woohyun-ah almost bashed your face in and he wasn’t even trying.”
“I-it would depend on the situation,” Yonghwa licked his lips again, backing up as Kiseop and Dongwoon frowned at him. It kind of scared him that Nam Woohyun hadn’t even been trying.
“You bolted the moment you saw us come in and you didn’t even know if we were dangerous or not to you,” AJ frowned as he spoke and the younger male stepped forward. “We could have just been guests to the party and yet you bolted.”
“You also have a poor sense of direction. You ran right into a dead end therefore allowing yourself to be trapped by us,”
“I was in a hurry?” Yonghwa didn’t even believe his own words and he was sure that Woohyun didn’t either. None of them probably did. “An-And as for running, you guys always give me such a hard time whenever I see you.”
“So. Other people give you a hard time too. Not just us.” Minho pointed out easily. “You’re obviously the type of person to run even if there isn’t anything wrong on any level.”
“In short, you’re a pretty pathetic person. You run at the first sign of danger, you’re directionally challenged and you’re a lousy fighter.” Woohyun’s voice was flat and Yonghwa felt slightly angry, his brows furrowing.
“That’s just your own observations!” Yonghwa defended hotly. For some reason, this made them rather amused and Yonghwa stood from the ground, facing them. “Look what is this talk about anyways? If you’re trying to bruise my ego, believe me it’s bruised enough. I mean I ran into a dead end!”
“This talk is about Seohyunnie,” Jinwoon said almost solemnly and Yonghwa clamped his mouth shut.
“I don’t see how belittling me is talking about my fiancée.” Yonghwa chose his words carefully. He stepped back when Dongwoon and Jinwoon both stepped forward.
“It has everything to do about Seohyunnie,” Dongwoon said lowly. “Seohyunnie’s been our friend for years, since we were all children and we’ve done everything for her. She’s our SeoBaby despite Minho being younger.”
“We agreed that we wouldn’t step into her love life when she started dating you but since you’ve asked our SeoBaby to marry you, we can’t not step in,” Minho inputted from the side. His voice had dropped in tone and he sounded dangerous.
“You oppose to our engagement then?” Yonghwa asked. Kiseop snorted and AJ said simply, “No. Not that.”
“We trust our SeoBaby’s judgment and to be honest, we kind of like you.” Kiseop said lightly. Yonghwa’s brows furrowed. Then what was the problem?
“What we have a problem with is that you’re incapable of taking care of our Seobaby,” Jinwoon said flatly. Yonghwa blinked in confusion.
“What? Like being able to provide for her?” Yonghwa asked and Woohyun rolled his eyes.
“Not that. Being able to protect her,” Jinwoon said. “Our SeoBaby’s always been protected by us and we’ve seen her through everything that’s come at us. She’s always been safe with us even though we annoy her to no end. She comes to us when there’s a problem, we’ve been her shoulder to cry on many, many times and she knows that she’s safe with us.”
Yonghwa’s eyes narrowed. Then she thought she wasn’t safe with him?
“She thinks that she’s safe with you and we wanted to prove that we could trust her with you,” Jinwoon waved a hand at their situation. “And to be honest, we feel that we can’t. Especially after this. You just can’t seem to protect her from harm and we’re worried that if it does come to a moment where you choose your survival over our SeoBaby, you’d pick your own survival.”
“Excuse me?” the words were out of Yonghwa’s mouth before he knew it and all of sudden, the situation was reversed. Jinwoon actually blinked when the slighter Yonghwa ended up cornering him to the wall. “I’ll have you know that whether or not I can protect Seohyunnie from harm is no business of yours. Her best friends or not.”
“You can’t say that. We know her the best Yonghwa-sunbae-hyung,” Minho pointed out.
“Shut up,” Yonghwa snapped and the younger male silenced in surprise. “I figure that even with my lack of fighting skills, poor direction and my flight-or-fight response, I can still protect Seohyunnie better than all of you combined.”
“How would you do that?” Kiseop asked lightly, holding out an arm when Dongwoon and AJ looked like they were about to protest. He shot them a look and they stilled.
“Because unlike the six of you, I’m sure I’ll have enough brains to not put the woman I love in harms way. I’m not going to go traipsing around the world being a dick and risking putting her in trouble,” Yonghwa barked. “No. And I’m not going to be stupid enough to get us in a situation that we can’t get out of. And if it ever came down to that, which I highly doubt, I’d have myself go through it and I’ll place Seohyunnie with someone who will watch her for me while I’m gone.”
“And if you never come back in such a situation?” Dongwoon challenged. Yonghwa glowered at him.
“It won’t happen. I’ll come back to her because she means that much to me,” Yonghwa stared each and every one of them down. “I’ll be there through everything that you’d helped her through and much more. And if I ever had to chose myself or Seohyun-ah, it’d be Seohyun-ah in a heartbeat. So don’t insult me like that. I don’t like getting into unnecessary situations but I wouldn’t give up anything or anyone I love for my own survival.”
No one rebuked him and Yonghwa’s eyes narrowed, challenging them.
“You got that?” he challenged, his tone dark.
There was a moment where the six of them just exchanged glances then Kiseop, the unofficial spokesperson it seemed, said simply, “You pass.”
Yonghwa faltered, his anger evaporating slightly and he watched as the six of them spread out, no longer cornering him to the dead end. He blinked in confusion and Jinwoon repeated lightly, “You pass Yonghwa-sunbae-hyung.”
“I-what?” Yonghwa asked blankly. And he almost flinched when Minho slung his arm goodnaturedly around his shoulders and the six of them began walking him back out to the front.
“I suppose we should have gone about this a different way I mean, we could have had like Hyungshik, Kevin, Sungyeol and less intimidating ones come talk to you about Seohyunnie or even the girls but Kiseopie, being our unofficial Big Brother since he was born earliest, wanted to see how you’d react to this,” AJ said as they walked. “We love our Seohyunnie and as much as it pains us to have to give, for the lack of a better word, her away to someone else, we wanted to make sure she didn’t make the wrong choice.”
“Okay?” there was a question behind it and Woohyun chuckled lightly.
“We just wanted to see how much you loved our Seohyunnie,” Jinwoon said rather matter-of-factly. Yonghwa stared at him. “I mean, we’re aware that you love her enough to spend the rest of your life with her but we wanted to see if you loved her enough to fight us.”
“We’re her childhood friends and her protectors. If you didn’t have enough guts to fight us over being able to protect our Juhyun-ah, you wouldn’t be waiting at that alter for Juhyun-ah. We wouldn’t let you,” AJ warned lightly as they entered the main club. They stopped for a moment and AJ lightly punched Yonghwa’s shoulders. “But since you did, I suppose you can have our blessings for now.”
There were a few worried glances and the six escorting him just smiled, lightly patted his shoulders before they disappeared into the crowds, Dongwoon leaving him with a light comment of, “Don’t worry. You’re not the only one we do this to. We did it to Jinwoon-ah last Tuesday when we found the ring he was going to propose to Cole-ah with.”
And Yonghwa stood, flabbergasted before he eventually, and numbly, made his way back towards the bar and Kikwang’s table.
Once there, he was immediately bombed by questions from Kikwang and Soohyun, both of them looking quite worried. He wasn’t quite sure how to answer them and just settled for being silent. It was his silence that made the two eventually dive into the crowds with a loud screech of, “YAH! 91 LINE! WHAT DID YOU DO TO YONGHWA!?”
Yonghwa just watched them go, his brows furrowing and he approached the bar, getting a random drink from the tender. It took him a moment before he recognized the bartender as another one of Seohyun’s friends, Sungyeol. Yonghwa paused when he got the glass and he looked at it before looking up.
“You didn’t poison this did you?” his question made a few people look at Sungyeol like he was some sort of criminal. The younger man just snorted air from his nose and replied with a flat,
“No. Kiseop-ah and the others obviously gave you’re their blessings so I’m not going to argue with them.”
Yonghwa went, “Oh.”
“I called Seohyunnie if you wanted to know. I suppose she should hear it first hand that we talked to you instead of hearing it from other people,” Dongwoon voice lowly as he suddenly appeared at the bar. “I mean, I’m sure Kikwang-sunbae would tell her that we poisoned you into silence or something. She’ll be by in a bit.”
“Son Dongwoon! Yah! Don’t you walk away from me!” and Yonghwa blinked as Kikwang stormed up, Dongwoon just gave him a sidelong glance before he disappeared again. Kikwang’s lips pursed in frustration. “Son Dongwoon!”
“So, Yonghwa-sunbae-hyung, need anything else?” Sungyeol asked, leaning on the counter. Yonghwa blinked slowly then he pushed the drink he hadn’t even touched back towards the younger man.
“I think I’ll just have an ice water instead.”
Sungyeol’s eyebrows rose but he didn’t argue and a few seconds later, he slid a glass of water towards the man. Yonghwa just nodded his thanks and the younger man was gone, moving to serve another person.
He sat there for a while, watching the ice cubes melt into the water and he took a straw from the dispenser. He them proceeded to mess with the ice in the cup and when he was bored with that, he let the straw rest on the countertop. He sat there for so long that he didn’t even realize it when there was a light sound and arms wrapped around his neck from behind. The owner giggled and a slender hand reached for the cup, tipping the glass so some of the liquid slid down her throat.
“Plain water oppa? Unlike you,” and Yonghwa smiled softly as his ex-girlfriend now fiancée slid gently around his back to sit next to him at the bar. Seo Juhyun smiled and tilted her head, a faint smile touching her lips. “Kiseop and them talked to you?”
Not exactly “talk” and Yonghwa answered, “Yeah.”
She looked a little worried.
“How’d it go? They didn’t do anything mean did they? Or bodily harming?” Seohyun looked slightly distressed and before she could wring her hands in worry, Yonghwa gently took one of her hands in his, running the pad of his thumb over the back of it. “Oppa?”
“Seohyun-ah, have I told you I’m terrified of your friends?” Yonghwa asked lightly. Seohyun blinked then nodded. It was a common topic and Yonghwa had told her on their third date together after Seohyun had caught Dongwoon and Jinwoon watching them. She threw them out of the restaurant and didn’t talk to them for days.
“They didn’t harm you did they?” and Yonghwa shook his head.
“Your friends are completely terrifying. They really are but I get where they’re coming from. You’re too precious to be left unprotected,” Yonghwa’s voice was soft. Seohyun’s brows furrowed and Yonghwa laughed gently, bringing her hand up to kiss the back. “It’s alright Seohyun-ah. I know how much your friends mean to you. Your boys and I just had a talk.”
“Are you sure? There wasn’t any mock fighting was there?” and Yonghwa shook his head.
“There wasn’t. We just got some things sorted out,” he said gently and Seohyun’s shoulders sagged in relief. He smiled before bringing her close and gently kissed her.