[27] Something About Luhan
Title: Something About Luhan
Pairing: Luhan/Yunho, Changmin-centric
Summary: Snippets of Yunho and Luhan’s relationship through Changmin’s eyes. In which he doesn’t really know how the two of them can make it work.
A/N: Companion story to Someone I Used To Know.
Warning: This is probably confusing and awkward. I’ve been working on this mindlessly for weeks and ugh I just wanted to get it out of the way. I didn't really try to delve too much into the relationship because this is just from an observer's POV (if that even makes sense at all) WIP tbh D:
It doesn’t take long for Changmin to figure everything out. After years of living and working together, he knows Yunho like the back of his hand and they’re past the point of keeping secrets from each other. It’s that decade of friendship that allows him to deduce just how appealing Luhan might look to Yunho. Graceful limbs, hot blood and seduction. Man or woman, Yunho has always been drawn to the kind of youthful beauty that just about crosses the line to innocence.
Changmin remembers most of Yunho’s past lovers. He may have forgotten their names, but he can clearly recall their look of wide-eyed naiveté, pictures of radiance and agelessness. They were comparable to sunshine made into flesh, features molded into an ethereal grace and smoothness. Simply put, Yunho falls for beautiful people. Of course, the only person who used to embody those qualities perfectly ended up as the one to break Yunho’s heart. But old habits die hard and Changmin has an idea of the temptation Luhan unconsciously dangles in front of Yunho.
Yunho likes Luhan, that much is obvious, probably since their very first encounter. He’s seen the way Yunho looks at the younger male. Like a predator silently brooding on how to capture its prey. Changmin had been with Yunho when the Chinese male first walked into SM Entertainment. Barely out his teens, Luhan moved with a lithe manner that had felt uncannily familiar. There was a certain fluidity in his gestures that pulled at Changmin’s hidden memories, a dull echo of something that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. But a quick look was more than enough for him to construe that Luhan was exactly Yunho’s type.
It’s not really a confrontation. Changmin is merely curious and intrigued. This is the first time in quite a while that he’s seen Yunho so flustered over someone. So he asks why the great Jung Yunho is bothered by his attraction towards Luhan.
He reminds me of Youngwoong Jaejoong is the only explanation Yunho offers.
Changmin laughs at this because finally he understands that nagging feeling he gets every time he looks at Luhan. He doesn’t really look like Jaejoong; he doesn’t even move like the Kim Jaejoong they see on TV now. But once upon a time Kim Jaejoong and Youngwoong Jaejoong had been the same carefree person until Jaejoong finally realized that he just couldn’t be Youngwoong anymore. And with Yunho’s revelation, Changmin sees that Luhan is alarmingly similar to certain aspects of the Youngwoong persona molded by SM and embodied by TVXQ’s former lead vocal.
“What are you gonna do about it, hyung?” Changmin queries, mildly amused that Yunho is taking this attraction seriously. He can already imagine the wheels turning inside the older male’s head.
“I don’t know.” Yunho frowns.
“Why don’t you just ask him out?” Changmin supplies, ignoring Yunho’s incredulous looks. “I’m sure you can pull the sunbae-hoobae card and tell him that you want to get to know him better. After all, we’ll be seeing more of him from now on. And then, you can decide if you want to take it to the next level.”
“But he looks so….young.”
Changmin raises an eyebrow. “Hyung, I know Luhan looks fifteen. But he’s twenty-two years old. Plus, you’ve been pining over him since the day you saw him. And that was two years ago.”
“I don’t pine for him.” Yunho huffs childishly. “I’ve dated other people.”
The silly reaction earns a chuckle from Changmin.
“Just give it shot, hyung. What can you lose?”
This is the moment when Changmin unknowingly plants an idea in Yunho’s mind.
In the future, Changmin will wonder if he should’ve put a stop to it before it even happened. “It” being the rather dysfunctional relationship that will blossom between Yunho and Luhan. But then again, he was the one who told Yunho to pursue Luhan, a suggestion that would end up very differently from what he had intended.
For now, he’s on stage for the very first 2012 SM Town concert. It’s the ending performance and SM artists are scattered across the elevated platform, doing all kinds of fan service. It’s become a habit for Changmin and Yunho to seek each other out during joint concerts. When the original five dwindled down to a duo, their attachment to each other had only grown stronger. In many ways, they were each other’s strength. So it felt only natural for Changmin to look at where his hyung had wandered off too.
Yunho’s commanding height provides Changmin the ease of locating him, the dancer towering over most of their labelmates. But Changmin spots the older male rooted to a standing position a few meters away from him, almost unmoving, his gaze fixated on Luhan who is busy cajoling with a bandmate. He recognizes the other boy as Sehun, EXO-K’s maknae with the sleepy yet attractive face. Changmin takes a step towards Yunho just as his peripheral view catches Luhan looking back at Yunho like he must have felt the intensity of how Yunho is staring at him.
Changmin takes a curious glance at the Chinese boy and registers the flicker of something akin to want in Luhan’s pretty eyes. He sees the barely contained excitement, which can probably be from post-performance adrenaline, but Luhan and Yunho stare at each other for a little too long, share a look that’s a little too intense. And something inside Changmin’s head just clicks, like the proverbial eureka moment.
Luhan likes Yunho too.
Yunho is pacing around the room, hands clumsily fumbling with a hotel key card. Changmin eyes it warily because he knows that the card is for a different suite on a different floor. The clock reads 9:45PM and Yunho is getting more impatient by the minute. Changmin would be laughing at him if he isn’t so against what Yunho is about to do.
“Hyung, you do know that there might be repercussions from what you’re planning, right?” Changmin says, a last feeble attempt to stop Yunho. They’ve done crazy things before. But probably not as crazy as the things going on inside the older male’s brain.
“Weren’t you the one who told me to go for it?” Yunho reminds him, walking over to the full-length mirror standing on one corner of the room. He brushes off imaginary lint on his jacket lapel while staring at Changmin’s reflection.
“Hyung, I told you to ask him out on a friendly date. Like go out for dinner and maybe a round of bowling afterwards.” Changmin replies scathingly. “I didn’t tell you to ambush him in his hotel room so you can fuck the living daylights out of him. And what makes you think he won’t kick you out the moment he knows why you’re there?”
Yunho smirks at his last statement. “He won’t kick me out and we both know it.”
Changmin sighs heavily. He’s well aware that Yunho can be very persuasive when he wants to be. It’s hard to say no to a man who knows how to use his charms as easily as he breathes air.
“Fine, hyung.” Changmin raises his hands in mock surrender. “Just don’t come back here looking like a kicked puppy.”
Yunho doesn’t come back that night.
Luhan is like a puzzle. Just when you think you have him all figured out, he surprises you with an unexpected quip or a disarming gesture. He keeps people on their toes and Yunho likes that about him. It’s a merry chase to figure out just what the younger male might do next. But Changmin can’t even pretend to be shocked when Yunho enters their shared hotel room at 6 in the morning, a rather goofy grin decorating his face.
“I told you he wouldn’t kick me out.” Yunho jokes, not even bothering to hide his delight.
Changmin rolls his eyes; quite miffed that Luhan gave in so easily because now Yunho probably won’t shut up about it for days. And he’s right because he doesn’t even get a chance to retort before Yunho plops unceremoniously next to him and proceeds to swoon.
“God, Changmin. You should have seen his face.” Yunho says dramatically, sounding so smitten that Changmin wants to gag. “He’s so fucking pretty when he blushes and when he makes those little moa-“
“JEEZ HYUNG!” Changmin cuts in sharply, scrambling to push Yunho off his bed. “I seriously don’t want to know the dirty details.”
Yunho glares at him. Changmin wonders for the thousandth time why he’s the younger than Yunho.
The thing between Yunho and Luhan starts as something purely physical. Yunho has made it clear that he wants Luhan because he reminds him of a past love. Yunho, for all his intelligence and gentleman qualities, decides that pursuing Luhan in an effort to get Jaejoong out of his system is a good idea.
In their years together, Jaejoong had wrapped Yunho in a cocoon of lust, crafting a clever cage around his heart so that he would desire no one but him. But that kind of relationship, one of complete control and possession, can’t really last for long. So Yunho stayed in SM, if only to put a permanent distance between him and the man who he thought was his everything, and willed himself to forget about Jaejoong entirely. But it’s an effort that almost goes to waste when Luhan had walked inside SM’s building and into Yunho’s life, unknowingly stirring half-forgotten memories and desires.
So Yunho wants to break Luhan open, dissect him until he can’t see anything remotely Jaejoong in him anymore. He thinks it’s a need more than a want, really.
And Luhan, for reasons unknown to Changmin, agrees to this-to be used and toyed with--until Yunho is satisfied that he is simply Luhan, not the incarnation of the man who gave reality to Youngwoong.
Changmin, for his part, thinks that they’re both complete idiots.
Changmin doesn’t want to meddle but he is not one to ignore recklessness that could also affect him in the future. He was more than ready to let it go, thinking that once would be enough to sate Yunho’s curiosities. But once turned to twice then to again and again and again.
It doesn’t happen often, really. EXO-M spends most of their time in China, promoting on the mainland for weeks at a time, only occasionally flying over to Korea for a quick schedule that spans a day or two. Yunho and Changmin, on the other hand, are always country hopping, performing on numerous concerts and concentrating more and more on their Japanese activities. Logistically, it seemed almost impossible for them to meet. But when there’s a will, there’s a way and Yunho can be sly and resourceful, finding ways to synchronize their days off so he can fool around with Luhan. It’s a power that comes from earning millions for their company, a power that Yunho loves to take advantage of.
Changmin knows Yunho is stubborn as hell when it comes to the things that he wants, refusing to concede that his trysts with Luhan are going beyond his initial purpose. Something about Luhan has him ensnared and suddenly, it’s not just about his similarities to Jaejoong anymore. Yunho has yet to put a label on what he feels for the younger male, but he’s addicted and he doesn’t want to stop.
So Changmin takes it upon himself to talk to Luhan because Yunho’s ears have turned deaf to his arguments.
He corners Luhan just as EXO are walking back to their hotel rooms. They’re in Singapore this time, rehearsing for the next SM Town concert. Thankfully, the higher ups managed to block the entire right wing of their floor so Changmin knows that there won’t be any random fan lurking around. His luck also doubles because Yunho has just finished a musical in Japan before jumping on a plane to Singapore. So the older man is probably in one of his zombie sleeps where not even the loudest commotion will wake him up.
Changmin gives EXO-M’s manager a look and that all he needs to do before Luhan is ushered out of the pack. The others are instructed to head to their rooms and they obediently follow, too exhausted to even wonder why Luhan is singled out.
“Let’s go to my room.” Changmin instructs, motioning for the younger male to follow. He sees Luhan nod meekly, face furrowed in confusion, probably wondering what Changmin might want with him. Changmin isn’t particularly close to anyone in EXO and Luhan is no exception. He sees more of Luhan compared to the rest. But their conversations are only an exchange of greetings with Yunho dragging Luhan to his room or somewhere private before they can talk about anything else. Even after months of being Yunho’s something whatever that something maybe, Luhan is still kind of a stranger to him.
The suite is quiet as they enter, dim lights illuminating the posh décor. It’s huge, probably big enough to host a party. But Yunho has been assigned to the equally expensive room next door just because their company wants to show how they provide nothing but the best for their senior artists.
“Do you want anything to drink?” Changmin gestures for Luhan to sit on the lavish couch. “I think there’s champagne or something at the bar.”
“No, thank you.” Luhan replies, hands fidgeting on his lap.
“Relax, Luhan. I just want to talk to you, okay?”
“This is about Yunho, isn’t it?” Luhan inquires, a subtle hint of challenge in his voice. Changmin thinks that Luhan doesn’t waste anytime and he’s pretty impressed at how perceptive the Chinese singer can be.
“Before anything else is said Changmin-sshi, I’d like to take this opportunity to say that no. I am not giving him up.”
Changmin blinks back in surprise. Well, this is unexpected.
“Have you ever watched Memoirs of a Geisha?”
“I-“ What.
Luhan laughs because Changmin probably has a stupid look on his face. But he doesn't care about that. Luhan has just asked him one of the most random questions he’s ever heard in his life and just what the hell does Memoirs of a Geisha have to do with anything?
"It's one of my favorite movies." Oh. "I was still in China when it was released and I remember taking my mother to the cinema because she had wanted to see it.
“There’s a line there that explains everything you want to know.” Luhan is smiling like his words are the enlightenment that Changmin is looking for. But it still doesn’t make sense so Luhan sighs like a kindergarten teacher that’s about to explain something really obvious to a five-year old. Changmin would be offended if he wasn’t so confused.
“You want to ask me why I welcomed Yunho’s advances even though I was aware that his intentions weren’t really of the best kind.” Luhan elaborates, expression turning serious. “The clearest answer I can give is a particular line from that movie.”
He takes a breath before reciting a short excerpt.
Every step I have taken… has been to bring myself closer to you.
He says it with such fondness that Changmin almost looks away.
“Changmin-sshi, my relationship with Yunho is probably the most clichéd thing in my life. I’m one of those people who took a chance because I had a ridiculously delusional dream about my idol. I’m not ashamed to admit that I moved to Korea, agreed to train under SM and debuted in EXO just because I wanted to be close to him.
“He sees Youngwoong Jaejoong in me, I get that. But I’ve been foolishly in love with him even before he ever knew of my existence and if my similarity to your former bandmate will allow me to have at least a small part of his affection, then I’ll take what I can get. I know you think that this thing we have probably won’t last, that we’ll crash and burn somewhere along the way. But I have confidence that we can make this work. It may not be obvious to you. But we’re trying.”
There’s enough conviction in Luhan’s voice that almost makes Changmin believe him.
Almost.
From: U-sunbae
Received: 12:17am, November 23
Message:
Sorry I just woke up.
Come to my room if you’re still awake.
Changmin talked to me a few hours ago.
What did he say?
He thinks you’re still with me only because I remind you of someone.
Did you correct him?
I tried but I don’t think he believed me.
Don’t worry. It’s not really important as long as you know that’s not the case anymore.
Do I still remind you of Jaejoong?
Yes.
Then what’s changed?
I fell in love with something about you.