Heartquake
*sigh* sorry it took forever. My work and my new bedroom were eating all of my time... but I'm currently on vacation, so it's writing time!
Title: Heartquake
Pairing: Sihan, one-sided!Kyuhan
Rating: PG
Disclamer: I own no one, nor do I own the title, even if the fic is not even linked to the song.
Summary: Sometimes events just go and shake your heart.
Author's note: This is a late Christmas gift for my baby, shihan_ai . HOPE YOU LIKE YOUR "KYUHAN", SWEETIE (I'm so evil)
“There he goes… Probably going off to spend some of the Chois’ son money.”
“I know, right? He was wearing rags when he first came here. Now he’s dressed like a prince!”
People like to talk. They like it even more when they talk about something that attracts their attention. Han Geng had learned it a long time ago. The whispers were lost in the wind as soon as he heard them, not affecting him anymore. What could it change for the whole of them if he was born in another country? Oh right, the most of them had been trying to marry off their daughter into a wealthy family, so losing one of them to another man is a catastrophe.
“Heard that the Choi son actually ASKED his father to disown him…”
“He got brainwashed, I tell you.”
Brainwashed? The Chinese man was biting his lips as he went on his way through the market place. Let’s talk about brainwash. Who is the one who had to learn another language, who changed countries, who has to deal with the rumours and discrimination? Not Mr. Choi, but himself.
Brainwashed or not, he was walking with a determined, steady rhythm toward the end of the town. There, the last one at the end of the road. The half-built house, it would soon be his.
“Siwon! I’m home!”
…As soon as his clumsy boyfriend would manage to finish building it. If only there was a door to knock on when he entered… But he couldn’t ask too much at a time for a man like his beloved.
Han Geng and Choi Siwon were too different people from two different categories of people while living in two different countries. Everything could have separated them: One rich, the other incredibly poor; One eating little because he wanted to maintain his weight, the other eating everything he could in order to save himself from losing weight… one living on a comfortable mattress, the other sleeping on the floor… everything. How they met is a complete mystery. Siwon’s family was on an annual trip to China, Geng had just lost his for an eternal journey. They just ended up looking at each other for some reason none of them knew. Back then, the Chinese man looked… well, let’s say it… he looked like shit. How could he have impressed a rich boy to the point of being suddenly taken in by the boy’s family as an employee? Chinese translator, actually. How he managed that, he had no idea; he didn’t speak Korean until Siwon taught him. One wasn’t seen without the other, spending hours learning each other’s language. The difference in clothes or richness never affected them.
…Han Geng didn’t believe in such things as love at first sight, but with his boyfriend, he had to admit it was what happened. What else could explain that after a month, Geng ended up traveling away from his native China, which he had never left, to end up living in Korea, waiting for a house to be built?
“Geng!”
The Chinese man had barely the time to brace himself that he felt a mass of muscles fall on him, snuggling and almost purring. He laughed before making a mental note to check in a dictionary if next to the definition of “cuddle” there is a picture of Siwon. The man simply was impossible to stop, but Geng didn’t mind at all.
Siwon was incarnated perfection. Even if he had been living in wealth, he was closer to emotional than monetary richness. He was tall, well built, blessed with defined features that made him impossible to resist… even more if he furnished his infamous dimpled smile to whoever was looking at him. He had the most charming personality and the only way to become his enemy is to hurt other people. Everyone loved him and he loved everyone. But no one loved him more than Geng did. And he just happened to love Geng just as much, despite his background.
“Hello there, Mr. Choi. How is our house going?”
“Slowly. I’m so sorry it’s taking so much time.”
“It isn’t as if you ever built a house before. Take your time.”
“I could have people helping me… but I really wanted to do it myself… I promised you security, clean clothes, healthy food and a roof over your head… I will fulfill my promise, love.”
“I know you will… You see, I have the clothes, the security and I’m eating properly!”
Kissing Siwon was… impossible to describe. Geng swore he was floating over the floor as those big, strong hands were caressing his hips while they tasted each other’s lips. Siwon was delicate while kissing, but he was also demanding. He needed affection, and his lover didn’t mind since he was in the same situation. They were finding completion in each other despite their differences. Geng fitted just right in Siwon’s arms, his face in the other’s neck and his waist being surrounded in a strong yet caring embrace as they cherished being together. It was a ritual in itself: kissing, then snuggling while talking of anything.
“What are you going to work on today?”
“The roof. It’s far from being solid enough for my taste, so I’ll solidify it from inside. But, Geng… your lunch hour is about to end, you have to get back to work!”
Siwon, so ever punctual. Geng sometimes hated this, but he had to admit that he didn’t want to lose his job. It took Siwon a lot of time to find it for him, and he loved what he did. With a quick peck on his lover’s lips, followed by ‘I love you’s, ‘be careful’s and ‘see you later’s, he rushed to the other side of the town, running the fastest he could, people talking about how he had no notion of what was respectable or not, in order to reach the huge mansion where he worked.
“Kyuhyunnie! I’m home!”
His job? Caring for 6 year-old son of the Cho family, Kyuhyun. A real little demon, no one managed to stay around for more than a week. Geng has been there for a whole month. The kid was spoiled rotten, but there was a way to do with him.
“You’re late.”
“I’m sorry my little prince, I was off to check on my house.”
“I don’t want you to go there!”
The problem was that Geng knew the way to do with Kyuhyun a little bit too much. Ever heard of children saying that when they’ll be tall enough, they’ll marry an adult around him? Well, that’s Kyuhyun around Geng for you. The kid kept on asking to be carried around, did everything his caretaker was asking him to do… Even his parents weren’t able to impose their authority as much as the Chinese man could. The only problem was that Kyuhyun declared war to Siwon, for “stealing my promised”.
“Kyu, sweetie, it’s my house. I need to go there. It’s where I will live one day.”
“No! You live here!”
“For now, yes. But one day you’ll get old enough to take care of yourself… and you won’t need me anymore. Then I will have a house waiting for me.”
“You want to go to HIM, huh? I don’t want you to. You should get married with me!”
Geng couldn’t help it: when he saw those lips tremble and eyes get full of tears, he just had to fall on his knees and take the little one in his arms, rubbing his back while the little boy kept on rambling about how he didn’t like Siwon, how he was big and scary and he would hurt Geng one day. Well, you can’t take what children say for granted, sometimes. Geng never took it personal, he believed that it was a normal reaction from the little one, but one sentence broke his heart.
“I want this house to fall! I don’t want it to exist! You stay here! I don’t want you to go! You’re mine!”
“Kyuhyunnie, don’t say that! It’s my dream, this house… You don’t want me to be sad, don’t you?”
“No!”
“Then let me have my house of my own, okay? And if Siwon does something bad, I’ll tell you, okay?”
There was such hope in those little eyes. Who said that child was a demon? He nearly looked angelic when he was with someone he loved. Geng just hugged him tighter, feeling the little one calm down while he clutched at his clothes.
“Promise?”
“Promise. You’re special to me, little Kyu, but not the same way as Siwon is special to me.”
“You’ll marry me one day? When I’ll be tall like Siwon?”
“Okay, I will.”
Children don’t remember such things, anyway…
He was about to let the boy go back on the floor to bring him to play some games in Kyuhyun’s bedroom that he lost his balance. Wait, what? He who was blessed with incredible balance, he was almost falling? What was going on.
“G- Geng!” came Kyuhyun’s alarmed, scared voice, the little one still safely in his arms. “It’s shaking!”
Shaking? What was shaking?
The earth. An earthquake. Oh no.
“Let’s get under the table, Kyu, go!”
The child was in his arms, and Geng had the responsibility to make sure he would be alright. Kyuhyun was silent, while many children would have cried in panic. He wasn’t a normal child, but there were things that scared even adults. Geng came from China, earthquakes were typical there, and he had been used to them ever since he was a child. But for most of the villagers, it was their first time.
It felt like forever, Kyuhyun silent in his arms, eyes wide open, was it in curiosity or in shock Geng had no idea, but suddenly, as soon as it came, it stopped. Pulling himself out from under the table, Geng looked around, seeing pieces of furniture in disarray, crumbles from the plaster walls, servants screaming and being afraid.
“My house! My house is full of cracks! I see them from here.” Cried out a servant as she looked through the windows. “It’s horrible!”
How strong had that earthquake been? Kyuhyun held Geng’s clothes even tighter, suddenly realising what happened. He smiled at the little one who was suddenly looking at him, searching for comfort.
“It’s okay, Kyuhyun… it will be okay.”
“KYUHYUNNIE!”
Mrs. Cho entered the house in panic, her husband running behind her as the woman ripped her son from Geng’s arms, holding him so tightly the Chinese man was afraid that he would soon see the little one choke from it. The woman kept on murmuring how much she had been afraid, her little boy not really understanding what was happening. Mr. Cho smiled at them in relief before turning toward the caretaker of his child.
“Han Geng, you got me impressed. He’s perfectly fine. Have you checked on your family?”
“Ah, no, I don’t have family here. I only have…”
Siwon. Who was building their house.
“The roof. It’s far from being solid enough for my taste, so I’ll solidify it from inside.”
“SIWON!”
Without a single glance to the Chos, he rushed out of the mansion, running so quickly his lungs were hurting. Siwon had to be alright… he had to be. Siwon was strong, and he had told Geng that he went through some earthquakes too, he knew what to do!
…maybe not. The house was in ruins. Wood and stone and crumbles… All on the ground, nothing standing anymore. And no sign of Siwon.
“SIWON!”
People were rounding up around the ruins, watching and yet not talking for once as Geng was trying to push away the remains, trying to find his loved one through it all.
“G… urgh… Geng!”
“Siwon!!! Where are you?!”
“Under it all… I can see you …. through a little hole… ah!”
He sounded in deep pain and it was piercing at Geng’s heart. The Chinese man was looking through the holes he could find, until he saw the glitter of metal. Siwon’s family ring… on Siwon’s stretched hand. Quickly, not thinking about his own safety, he plunged his hand in the hole, holding that weak hand tightly
“We will get you out of here, my love, I swear! Hold on, alright?! You have to hold on!”
“I am, Geng, it’s okay… The way it fell…. there is nothing directly on me… the space is limited and I can’t go out…. There is a place… but only a child could go through… It’s difficult to speak, too.”
“I love you!”
“I love you too, but stop saying it as if I’ll never hear it again.”
No one was talking around them, no one was offering help. Geng wanted to cry, holding on to his lover’s hand, and everyone watching in pure curiosity, but with no wish to help. He wanted to start pushing the ruins of their house away, but he was afraid to let go of Siwon’s hand.
“Geng!”
“Kyuhyun?!”
The little one was running up the pile of ruins as he was reaching for his caretaker. Mr. and Mrs. Cho were amongst the people around the house, worried expressions on their features.
“Kyuhyun, go tell your parents that Siwon is under all this, okay?! We need help, sweetie!”
“I didn’t mean it, Geng. Do not hate me! I love you too much for you to hate me.”
Didn’t mean it… Didn’t mean what? The child was babbling so much that Geng barely understood the most of it. Oh.
“I want this house to fall! I don’t want it to exist! You stay here! I don’t want you to go! You’re mine!”
Kyuhyun thought it was his fault. Sighing, Geng placed his free hand on the little face and looked into those pitiful eyes. It was surprising how emotional the little boy was when with his “baby-sitter”.
“Kyu, please, help me, okay? Go tell your parents that I need help, alright?”
The little boy ran back to his parents, the expression of his mother clearly showing that she was afraid that he would hurt himself. He was babbling to his parents, apparently explaining what was going on, and when his father shook his head, probably saying that it was impossible to save Siwon, Geng recognised the cold eyes he met when he was first appointed as Kyuhyun’s caretaker. When the boy wanted something…
“Geng?”
“Yes Siwon?”
“Kyuhyun is small enough…”
Small enough… he could go through the hole and get to Siwon. But no one sane enough would accept letting a small boy go under those rumbles.
“Shiyuan, my love… it would be of no use.”
“I need water… My throat…”
Even if Geng had wanted to prevent it, the child had been next to him in a flash and he was running back to fetch water just as quickly. He kept screaming to everyone to “move their big lazy ass and help”, which wasn’t surprising, but the effect in itself… that was a surprise. Everyone started pushing ruins away, trying to find a way though everything so they could reach for Siwon. Gladly, the man wasn’t trapper in the middle of the mess, so it shouldn’t be too long.
“Kyuhyunnie!” cried out Mrs. Cho when she spotted her son crawling under the rumbles.
“Siwon, is Kyuhyun coming near you?! Is he at the right place?!”
“Yes he is… I see him…”
It felt like forever for Kyuhyun to reach Siwon with water. However, the little one refused to go out afterwards, making both his parents and Geng go mad with worry, but Siwon kept on repeating that the both of them were fine.
Five hours. It took five long hours to push everything aside and to pull both Siwon and Kyuhyun out of the damn hole they were trapped in. Geng reached for his lover, crying and kissing him everywhere, not caring if Siwon wanted to be kissed or not.
“Are you alright? Is anything broken?”
“My leg, I think… it’s a real mess… but I could have been worse.”
There they were, hugging close, Siwon’s leg stretched out in order for it to be the less painful possible while waiting for the doctor. Geng was crying his eyes out while Siwon was trying to calm him down, but was it even rational to think he would stop? When they saw the little dirty face of the one who spent a lot of time under the ruins, Geng stretched an arm for the little one to come with them, but Kyuhyun was looking straight at Siwon with determination in his eyes and arms firmly crossed.
“I have to admit that I lost. Geng is yours.”
“oh, Kyuhyunnie” cooed the mentioned Chinese as he went to pick the little one in his arms before going back next to Siwon, who was laughing before he ruffled the boy’s hair.
“You did great today, Kyuhyun. As a symbol of my thanks, I’ll let you marry Geng when you’ll be old enough, and if you’re a good boy until now, okay?” said the tall Korean with a wink.
“Okay!”
Seeing his little protégé run back into his worried mother’s arms, Geng let his head fall on his boyfriend’s shoulder. Siwon looked fine, so much the older of them two was wondering if he was hiding anything.
“You sure you are fine?”
“Yes I am, love, promise. I just… our house will take even more time to build.”
“I don’t care about the house… as long as you’re alright. Damn, my heart is still shaking.”
After all, Earthquake… with a bad accent, it sounds just like Heartquake…