Without a Heart; chapter 3
C H A P T E R 03
When the car stopped in front of the “new” Coffee House, Heechul and Jaejoong immediately caught sight of around 2 dozen people already inside through the windows. Since the café wasn’t considerably large, this was surprising. Jaejoong pulled up the handbrake and took out the key without taking his eyes off the café before him, intrigued with a spark of anticipation in his gaze. Heechul cast a worried look over at his best friend as they both got out and headed towards the café . Heechul grabbed the sleeve of Jaejoong’s arm before his foot stepped onto the pavement. Jaejoong frowned at him.
“What?” he asked. From the expression on Heechul’s face, he didn’t really think an answer would be necessary, but he didn’t flinch to show that he knew this. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Let’s go over it one more time,” Heechul said in a slow, firm voice. This tone of voice was used when Heechul would talk to his nephew, a 4 year old, whenever he did something wrong. This fact alone irritated Jaejoong, and he pulled his arm away from him.
“I get it,” he said lazily, adjusting his jacket and rolling his eyes. Heechul raised an eyebrow.
“Get what?”
“I won’t talk to the waitress. I’ll let you get the order.”
Jaejoong heaved a sigh after saying those words. Heechul just lowered his head and smiled with satisfaction; whatever would really happen when Jaejoong would see a pretty waitress, his words could either mean something this time, or they’d be banned again. There weren’t many good places left to go, and Jaejoong was aware of this. He was aware of how Heechul felt about it to, so each time he promised, he really did work hard to keep it in order to save their friendship. Heechul dug his hands into his pockets and brushed past Jaejoong towards the entrance.
The door was made of glass so customers coming in would be able to see right into the café. Heechul stepped forward first and pushed it open with his hand while his eyes scanned the place. At once the smell of fresh coffee and pastries hit his senses, and the low mumbling of the customers met his ears. The place was quite large now that he was inside, all the customers were seated comfortably at each table, and overall the place had a very homey feel to it. Jaejoong coughed into his fist as he came in behind Heechul, staring around as well.
“This is much better than the Cheesecake Shop,” he remarked. Heechul let out a scoffing laugh and shot him an annoyed look. “What? It’s is nicer.”
“Don’t start sucking up because we can’t go there anymore,” Heechul said wearily as they both headed over to the counter.
“I wasn’t sucking up,” Jaejoong mumbled. “And who cares? When Bo Peep opens up again, we can go back.”
“I don’t think we should rush that,” Heechul told him. He waved his hand to one of the staff to come serve them. Jaejoong sighed and stared up at the ceiling.
“I want to eat an apple Danish,” he said wistfully. “It was always just right at Bo Peep...”
“2 apple Danishes and a black coffee, please,” Heechul said politely to the waitress with his default smile. The waitress nodded and scribbled down his order on her notepad.
“We’ll bring it out for you in a minute,” she told him with a bright smile. Heechul nodded.
“Thank you.”
The waitress smiled again and then quickly turned to the next customer behind him. Heechul sighed to himself and looked around for an empty spot so they could sit.
Even with Coffee House’s new popularity, the day was pretty peaceful at that time of day. They had come in at the most convenient time where, although there were many people, wasn’t too crowded on a weekday afternoon. Heechul’s eyes fell on a table in the middle of the room, closest to their reach. He immediately assimilated it to his liking.
It wasn’t against the wall, in which Heechul hated, and with just 2 chairs they could avoid being interrupted.
“Let’s go sit over there,” he suggested, pushing Jaejoong towards its direction. Jaejoong wasn’t moving on his own, he wasn’t paying too much attention either to what Heechul just said; instead he was peering over at the waitress with curious eyes. Heechul hit his shoulder. “Yah!!” Jaejoong just shrugged innocently and sat down on the chair.
“What? I can’t look either?” he asked, taking off his jacket and hanging it on the chair. Heechul ignored him, also sitting down. Jaejoong leaned back on his chair, staring around the place again with a childlike awe. “I can’t believe we’ve never noticed this place before. I wonder what it was before they opened it as a café...”
But now Heechul was the one who wasn’t paying attention. He set his bag on the ground and leaned down to search through it for something. He pulled out a couple of papers and piled them onto the table before reaching in again for a pen. Jaejoong rested his cheek on his fist, watching with a mild expression.
“Am I talking to myself again?” he said flatly. Heechul sat back up once he found a pen, turning back to the papers, checking through them. Jaejoong emitted a deep sigh. “Hyung, just rest for a bit. We’re here to eat, not work.” He laid his arms out onto the table at both sides of Heechul, but he was again ignored. “Yeeun even went to Busan so we could go home early.”
“Where’s the Yoo file?” Heechul muttered to himself. He flicked through all of the pages but couldn’t seem to find it.
“Are you listening to me?!” Jaejoong exclaimed, banging his fists onto the table childishly. Heechul simply pushed his arm off, which almost caused Jaejoong to fall off his chair, and he leaned back down over his bag, fumbling through intensely. Jaejoong pulled himself back up, unable to think of anything to say at Heechul’s suddenly seriousness.
It didn’t feel right, they were in a café ; they had ordered 2 Danishes and some coffee, it was 5 o’clock in the afternoon, their colleague had their back for the project, work was supposed to be over... why was Heechul still so anxious to find some paperwork that he was scratching through his bag as if trying to peel off the skins on his knuckles?
The front door opened again, letting a gush of wind from outside into the café . It was a young teenage girl, and it was obvious that she was a waitress. Dressed in the uniform, as messily as it was, she looked like she was in a rush to get there and was out of breath. Panting for air, she held onto her hat to stop it from falling as she ran past Heechul and Jaejoong’s table towards the counter, where the waitress who had served Heechul from before was waiting with a disapproving stare.
“Sohee, why are you so late??” the waitress hissed. Sohee bowed deeply multiple times, still keeping hold of her hat.
“I’m sorry!!” she said breathily. The waitress just sighed and shook her head, ushering her over.
“Never mind,” she said hastily, handing her an apron. “Just hurry up and pick up the orders, they’re piling up today.”
“Yes, I’m right on it!” Sohee exclaimed. Still out of breath, she quickly tied the apron around her waist and instinctively grabbed a notebook of the orders.
Ever since a few days earlier when Coffee House was reborn, so many people had come in that it was difficult to adapt. When Sunmi had helped her, it was a lot easier since they could take turns taking the order and bringing the order to the customer. Because Sunmi didn’t have any shifts today, Sohee was forced to do both at once. It was a hectic job because there weren’t too many waitresses on duty, but Sohee learned that her two hands could do much more than she first thought. The other waitress came over as Sohee grabbed the orders one by one.
“The cheesecakes go to Table 6,” she told her, pointing over at the customers waiting at a table on the other side of the room. “Cappuccino goes to Table 12, chocolate cake & black coffee goes to Table 8 and the two apple Danishes & black coffee goes to Table 2. Quickly, we’ve still got about 3 orders after that.” Sohee nodded with acknowledgment.
Feeling much better temporarily because of the medication cream, Sohee was able to swiftly fly from table to table with ease. She wasted no time and immediately grabbed two orders of cheesecake and placed them on a foodplate, carrying it off towards the table at the other end of the room, again passing Heechul on Table 2. He was still leaning over his bag, scraping through it more frantically.
“Where is it...?” he muttered to himself. Jaejoong leaned over to look.
“What are you looking for?” he asked. Heechul sat back up and flicked through his paperwork again.
“Yoo’s signature,” he mumbled.
“Yoo’s signature?” Jaejoong repeated with confusion. He placed his hand over Heechul’s when he seemed to be flicking so hard that it might thrash his hand. “Heechul hyung, snap out of it.”
Heechul finally found the paper he needed, but he looked less than relieved as his eyes darted through the page. He then turned his gaze at his best friend, holding up the paper and looking horrified.
“It’s not signed,” he said weakly. His voice quivered slightly, taken by shock at this revelation. He thrust it at Jaejoong, leaning over the table at him. “You told me you had Yoo’s signature.” Jaejoong pushed his arm away.
“He said he’d fax it to us tomorrow morning,” he said calmly.
“Tomorrow morning?” Heechul whispered, his eyes widening. He felt like he was suffocating. “Why couldn’t he have faxed it when you asked???”
Jaejoong sensed that Heechul was starting to lose it again. He slowly raised up his hands and motioned his friend to calm down.
“Just relax, hyung,” he told nervously. A few people were starting to stare. “There’s no rush for this, just go get it in the morning.” Heechul slammed down the papers and collapsed onto the table, the last fibre of his strength gone. Jaejoong placed his hands on his friend’s shoulders and gently shook him. He forced a laugh.
“What’s with you?” he said, trying to sound like he was joking. “Come on now, the project isn’t even due for a whole month. Why are you so paranoid?”
“A whole night wasted...” Heechul muttered. Jaejoong slapped his shoulder hard.
“Yeah,” he exclaimed. “You can use that spare time to sleep for once...!”
Heechul didn’t reply and glanced at his watch to check. It was about 5:10, his colleagues at the office would be on their way home now, but there was still a chance he could slip in before the doors were locked and send a fax to ask for the signature. Then he’d be able to finish of the paperwork for that by tomorrow morning. He couldn’t waste anymore like he had been all week. All month.
He couldn’t.
Heechul abruptly stood up and looked down at a surprised Jaejoong. He held out his hand.
“Give me your car keys,” he said coldly. Jaejoong blinked and unconsciously drew his hand up to his chest.
“My car keys?”
“Give them to me.”
Heechul was towering over him and even though he looked incredibly tired, he was staring down with such an intense glare in his eyes. Jaejoong was rarely exposed directly to this look, especially from this kind of intimidating angle, so frankly he was very scared, sinking back into his chair.
He for one knew very well about the changes of Heechul’s moods from knowing him over the years, he knew what he was like when he was happy even when he didn’t show it, and he knew when he was angry when didn’t show it. In this case, he knew when Heechul was about to physically hurt him if he’d say anything besides “Here are the keys” instead of just giving him the keys.
Jaejoong quickly patted around at his pockets and fished the keys out, forking them over. Heechul swiped them out of his hand and immediately bent down to grab his bag, zipping it up quickly then dashing out the door. Jaejoong pulled himself back up and released a breath, brushing the front of his hair with his fingers as he continued to watch the empty place at the glass door where Heechul disappeared with astonishment.
After a few moments, to his shock he saw his car drive past. His eyes and mouth dropping open, Jaejoong shot up from his seat.
“Hyung!!” he called helplessly. “Hyung!!”
Where was he going now? Back to the office? He couldn’t be that ridiculously paranoid because of the signature, could he? Knowing how irrational Heechul’s mind was working at the moment, as well as fearing he’d resort to drastic measures such as breaking into the office to get what he wanted, Jaejoong couldn’t just leave him alone. He sighed with frustration and picked up his jacket, putting it back on.
“Excuse me, sir...” a timid female voice spoke from behind him. Jaejoong looked around to find Sohee standing nervously. She was holding a foodplate with 2 apple Danishes and a coffee, apparently not sure what to do. “Uh... do you still want this?”
Jaejoong’s anxious posture melted away as he turned around, letting out a soft, hearty laugh.
“Yeah, of course,” he said good-naturedly. “But could you put the Danishes in a paper bag for me instead?” He laughed again and jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the door. “I’ll have it to-go.”
Sohee still looked a little confused at the sudden change of the order, but nonetheless she nodded.
“Okay,” she replied. She went back to the counter as Jaejoong followed, still shooting glances at the door and rubbing his hands together. Sohee noticed; it seemed obvious he wanted to leave quickly for something, but he still smiled as he looked back at her, probably because he knew she must’ve looked awkward and pressured. She quickly bagged the Danishes and handed them to him. “Would you like the coffee to-go as well?” Jaejoong shook his head as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a single $20 bill and handed it to her before promptly turning away towards the exit. Sohee stared at the bill for a brief moment.
“Wait a minute!” she called out suddenly. Jaejoong stopped just before the door and looked back at her, his expression pleasant. Sohee bit her lip, feeling a little uneasy with the money. “Don’t you want your change back, sir?” Jaejoong grinned.
“Since you’re cute, you can keep it.” He gave her a friendly wave of his hand as he walked backwards, pushing the door open with his shoulder as he turned around and then hurried out.
Sohee again looked down at the note, still unsure. She hadn’t gotten such a tip since she started working. Glancing around uncertainly to see if any of her colleagues were watching, she quickly cashed the money and took out the change. She carefully counted it in her hands, at the same time an uncontrollable smile creeping onto her face.
She happily put her tip money in her pocket and got back to work.
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It took a little longer than Jaejoong had hoped to follow Heechul. Because he was basically stranded without the convenience of his car, Jaejoong was forced to instead catch a taxi. The sun was quickly going down and shrinking back behind the clouds, so it was getting pretty dim around the city. Jaejoong had to stand on the edge of the footpath, waving his arm in order to catch the driver’s attention; usually he would find an empty cab waiting beside the road, but it was more difficult as they approached the night.
Jaejoong hopped into the taxi and told the driver the location he needed to get to. With an acknowledged nod, the driver silently steered the car in the opposite direction towards the highway.
As the car began to move, Jaejoong couldn’t help but feel a little worried; trying to imagine just what was running through Heechul’s thoughts at that moment.
Would he get himself hurt? Would his anger explode again? He seemed to be increasingly unstable as each day went by, Jaejoong was scared that his exhaustion would catch up to him at the worst time possible, and piling up all these projects weren’t helping either. Jaejoong nibbled on his Danish to ease his mind a little.
The drive took about 10 minutes, all in the while it felt like almost an hour as Jaejoong kept on thinking about what was possibly happening right now with Heechul. He didn’t realize that he had eaten his Danish as well as Heechul’s trying to stay calm. As the car finally reached the front of the office building, Jaejoong caught sight of a figure sitting alone on the steps of the entrance.
“Ahjussi, please stop here,” he said to the driver. The car stopped and Jaejoong stepped out of the car. He took a moment to count the fee before handing it to the driver through the car window before he drove away again.
Jaejoong puffed up his cheeks and released a deep breath, scratching his hair as he turned his gaze back at the lone person a few feet away.
Heechul sat on the top of the stairs, his hands on his knees, staring down at the space in front of him. He looked exhausted and disappointed at the same time, his expression seemed as if he had used up so much energy, only to be cast aside in a cruel manner. The office was now empty; the doors were locked and only the security lights were on. Heechul had put up some kind of fight to try and get in, but in the end he seemed to have failed miserably. It was getting darker now, the lights flickered dimly down onto Heechul’s face, casting a meek glow to reveal his crestfallen face.
Jaejoong spotted his bag at his side; it looked like it had been thrown around a lot. Whether Heechul saw him arrive or pretended not to, Jaejoong wasn’t sure, but as a cool breeze passed through, he felt the air of his friend’s hopelessness.
“Heechul hyung,” he said softly, going over. Heechul didn’t move or reaction. Jaejoong sighed frustratedly and sat down next to him. He shook him by the shoulder. “Heechul hyung...”
“It’s locked,” Heechul said very quietly. His voice was hoarse.
“Of course it’s locked. The boss has gone home.”
“But...” Heechul closed his eyes and hung his head. “I need the signature to finish the paperwork.”
“Enough,” Jaejoong exclaimed, shaking him again. “This isn’t about the paperwork.”
Heechul said nothing again. Jaejoong had about enough and finally back up, taking Heechul by the arm and dragging him to his feet.
“Let’s go to a bar,” Jaejoong told him, the only means of comfort he could offer. “I ate your Danish, so we might as well.” He took his keys off Heechul and led him blindly to the car that had been parked messily beside the building. Heechul, too exhausted from the traumatic adrenaline rush, complied without a word, completely dazed like a child.
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It was place of comfort for these two friends over the years. Over the years, the club they had gone to every week eventually gained its popularity, so now more people would come. The dance floor was lit with younger men and women more than ever, each a lonely soul seeking a night’s excitement before having to face the gloomy morning again.
Heechul and Jaejoong were on a safe haven in this club. Despite all that happened around town with their escapades with random women, the club was a place where they didn’t need to fear sabotage from vindictive ex-girlfriends. They both sat at the counter in their favourite spot, Heechul being two seats from the right, Jaejoong three seats from the right. Even when they only came for a quiet talk and a drink, women were usually drawn over to their spot.
But tonight, Heechul showed no emotion towards any of the beautiful women who passed by. He bit into the last of the sandwich he ordered, chewing tastelessly. He dusted his hands on the plate and pushed it aside to be taken away. Swallowing hard, he then downed the rest of his liquor without so much as a grimace. Their regular bartender vigilantly glanced between the empty plate and empty glass before grabbing the plate. He lifted it down behind the counter and wiped the table with his cloth.
“Another one, hyung?” he asked. Heechul nodded and pushed his glass forward.
“Hit me hard, Sungmin ah.”
Sungmin nodded. He reached down for a bottle, threw it in the air so that it landed in a proper position in his one free hand, and he drizzled the liquor into the glass. Heechul managed a stiff, thankful smile and took a first sip. Jaejoong beside him also held out his glass. Sungmin filled it up with liquor as well, before being distracted by another customer. Jaejoong also took a sip, but unlike Heechul, he cringed at the strong sting of the alcohol.
“Aishh,” he gasped, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He chuckled and glanced over at Heechul. “I don’t know why we keep drinking this stuff.” Heechul just stared blankly ahead at the liquor cabinet and drank some more, his mind drifting off again.
“Hyung,” Jaejoong tried again. “Heechul hyung!!” Heechul flinched at the sound of Jaejoong’s voice. He glanced over at him.
“What did you say?” he asked. Jaejoong was disappointed at the fact that Heechul genuinely seemed to have not heard him this time rather than ignoring him. It might have been the influence of the alcohol, but Jaejoong was still disappointed. Heechul was such a mess right now.
From the outside, through the eyes of a woman, Heechul was perfection. Large pure eyes that had matured with wisdom, his clean cropped hair grazing across his brow, his milky white skin, a rare smile that lit up his whole face, a mysterious coldness in his stance, it was no wonder that they were drawn towards him. But what they didn’t know was of the dark sadness in his heart that reflected out of his gaze, they may have been able to see it and were attracted to it, but not in a million years would they ever be able to understand what that emotion was. If they did, they would not even try to approach him, they would not even try to warm up to him, because the truth was that this man had been broken so severely inside that he had sealed himself in a shell that no one was able to break. Did he have a heart? Was it broken, or was it just empty?
Of all the months of the year, as March drifted in, Heechul’s thoughts left the world of reality and were sucked back in a realm of memories and nightmares, from the moment he found his happiness so long ago, to the moment it was destroyed and he realized it was never real to begin with. The life that he built in the depths of his soul crumbled into dust, leaving a hollow cavity in his body that he couldn’t seem to fill, even when he tried so hard to ignore it with his job and family life.
All because of one goddamn woman. Jaejoong slammed down his glass.
“Stop being so upset,” he told him. Heechul drained his drink. “Just because this month always reminds you of a bad era in your life...” Heechul winced. ““¦doesn’t mean you have to shut the rest of the world.” He tilted his head to see his friend’s face, nudging him with his elbow. “Hyung, you have to snap out of it. You’ll go crazy if you don’t.”
No response yet again. Jaejoong exhaled, truly defeated by Heechul’s stubbornness.
“What is it that you want?” he asked in all seriousness. Heechul lowered his head and tapped his fingers against the empty glass. “Do you want to see her again? Do you want me to buy you a ticket to Japan so you can go see her?”
Heechul laughed mirthlessly, shaking his head. Sungmin popped in, refilled his glass as he held it up, and popped out again. Heechul took in a mouthful and savored it for a few moments before swallowing. He sighed.
“I don’t want to go see her,” he said truthfully.
“Then, why are you like this?”
“You wouldn’t get it.”
“Try me,” Jaejoong said persistently.
“Even if you’ve ever felt the same way as I have about a girl, you still wouldn’t get it.”
“Just try.”
The one thing that was dramatically different between the two friends was that Heechul had actually fallen in love before, when he met Boa. He never had a love before her, and his pure heart embraced her with his entire body and soul. Jaejoong, on the other hand, with his flawless good looks and charismatic demeanor, won the hearts and virgin lips of several young girls during his high school years, yet never really understood anything beyond that. If Heechul were to explain the pains of his heart from his breakup, Jaejoong would fail to truly empathize what that feeling was like. If Heechul were to explain why after such a severe blow he wanted to give up on love altogether and just live recklessly like him, Jaejoong would fail to see the significance and simply urge him to move on. He wouldn’t understand that those words Heechul had uttered were a lie, even when it wasn’t meant to be one.
No, he didn’t want to go to Japan. No, he didn’t want to see her. But no... he didn’t let go. Why? Jaejoong wouldn’t be able to honestly figure it out.
Despite everything, Jaejoong was still too naive and pure-hearted to understand.
A group of 4 girls came up to Heechul’s side and sat down, two occupying the seats next to him, while the other two sat along the bend.
“A Blue Hawaiian, bartender,” one of them told Sungmin.
“A vodka for me.”
“I’ll have the same.”
“Cuba Libre for me, thanks.” They all giggled and chatted loudly amongst each other, but the two men ignored them entirely.
Jaejoong stared at Heechul intently, waiting for a reply, really wanting him to open up and talk, but in the end he realized he was just watching him finish off his drink. Jaejoong rolled his eyes and gave up.
“Alright,” he sighed, looking into his own empty glass. He circled his finger around the brim. “I’ll stop talking about this. But you have to lighten up a little, especially around people.” He glanced around the club. “You scare all the girls away when you look like you’ll jump into the Han River when you leave this place.” Heechul smiled humorlessly. Jaejoong nudged him again. “Yah, if you’re not going to listen to me, at least stop being so blunt to Yeeun. You should treat at least one girl like a normal person.”
“Okay,” Heechul said dully.
There was another silence between them, where Jaejoong anticipated for some more words, again coming to the conclusion that Heechul had said all he needed. Sungmin finishing the cocktails and brought them over to the group of girls, placing the Blue Hawaiian next to Heechul’s arm. The girls raised their glasses to a loud toast and fell into another fit of giggles, but they were again easily ignored by the somber mood hovering over the two young men next to them.
Jaejoong stood up and silently patted Heechul on the back. Since there was nothing left to talk about, which happened a lot during Heechul’s period of withdrawal, Jaejoong had learned that although he would get some information about Heechul’s feelings if he continued to push, overdoing it at such a time of depression was a danger to their friendship and might potentially shut Jaejoong out entirely.
The best solution was to let Heechul reflect on himself in a way that only he understood. Jaejoong, taking his refilled glass with him, stepped down from his stool and wandered over to the dance floor.
With his eyes cast on the ground, he didn’t go directly onto the floor to dance, but instead collapsed on one of the sofa chairs, which in his opinion flushed away the exhaustion from his muscles a lot better than even his own bed. Jaejoong emitted a long sigh and closed his eyes for a few seconds, the coloured lights still flashing in his eyes behind his eyelids. Techno music began to play, and he smiled at this; it was his favourite kind of music to dance to, and he felt like dancing after feeling so relaxed after a day of watching Yeeun heedlessly seduce businessmen and Heechul’s gloom.
He opened his eyes and lifted his head up, watching the young people before him dance for a little while. His eyes fell on a pretty girl across the dance floor, sitting by herself and looking lost. He surveyed her for a long time, sipping his drink, a long time that even she began to notice. Jaejoong stood up and went over.
“Hi,” he said with a warm smile. The girl was pretty, but also she seemed rather bashful of his presence. Jaejoong leaned onto the wall next to her, placing down the glass. “I’m Jaejoong. What’s your name?”
“Hyunyoung,” she replied timidly. Jaejoong grinned.
“Are you here with anyone?” he asked kindly. Hyunyoung sheepishly shrugged, looking down. She tucked a hair behind her ear.
“My friends were here but they’re all dancing now,” she told him. Jaejoong shot a glance at all the girls on the dance floor; he wasn’t sure which ones she was referring to, but he didn’t show it. He let out a chuckle.
“Do you want to dance with me?”
Hyunyoung smiled shyly to herself and shrugged her shoulders again.
“I can’t dance,” she mumbled, fidgeting in her seat. Jaejoong went over in front of her and kneeled down to her level, taking her by surprise. He held out his hand.
“I’ll teach you,” he told her. “It’s really easy.”
Because he was so handsome, Hyunyoung was struck dumb. Her lips parted, but no words came out; Jaejoong could pinpoint the exact moment she became completely smitten. He chuckled again and instead grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet.
She was shorter than he expected, being nearly an entire head lower than him, so when he brought her up, she fell onto his chest and came unexpectedly close to his face as he looked down at her, into her eyes. Hyunyoung was slightly shocked, but Jaejoong just smiled again.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he said breathlessly.
Hyunyoung blushed and laughed softly. As the techno dance music died down and a slower song played, Jaejoong held her hand and led her to the middle of the room. He placed his hands around her waist. He laughed when she seemed uncomfortable with it.
“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you a simple dance,” he told her reassuringly. He moved her hands so that they rested on his shoulders, and they both looked down at their feet. “Just follow me. One, two, three. One, two, three...”
He took a step and Hyunyoung did the same. He took another step to the right, and she did the same. Hyunyoung giggled.
“I guess I can dance after all,” she said proudly. Jaejoong smirked, and they looked down at their feet again, this time a little faster. They practiced until there was no more need to look down, and Hyunyoung had her head rested on Jaejoong’s shoulder in an intimate embrace, one song to the next.
Heechul still sat at his seat before the bar, watching Jaejoong absentmindedly from afar. He drained his 5th drink of the night and slammed it down hard onto the table, but even so his mind seemed unaffected by the alcohol. Sungmin shuffled over, now less occupied since most of the customers had moved away to initiate conversation with other strangers. He dried an empty glass with his hand towel.
“Another one?” he asked. This time Heechul shook his head and pushed his glass away, further than before. Sungmin understood his gesture and took the glass and placed his tab beside it. Heechul simply handed him a credit card, which Sungmin zapped and handed back. Their exchanges weren’t always so silent, but since Heechul was pretty much half drunk even when he didn’t feel like it, there was nothing to say.
The girl next to him let out a high-pitched laugh and set down her glass hard, a few drops splashing onto Heechul’s hand beside it. He nonchalantly wiped it off on his shirt.
“So you really bought that dress in the end?” one girl said. The Blue Hawaiian girl tittered.
“Yeah,” she giggled. “Like, wow!! It cost me like a month’s pay, but I figured it’d disappear once the season’s over. I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t get it then!!’
“A month’s pay?? Wow, that’s so hot!!”
“I know!!”
“Totally!!”
In the middle of their excited “discussion”, Heechul reached over without looking and picked up the Blue Hawaiian, taking a sip from the girl’s glass. She didn’t notice straight away, but one of her friends did, and she let out a gasp.
“That guy just took your drink...!” she whispered so loudly that he was able to hear it. The Blue Hawaiian girl stopped laughing and looked around to see Heechul holding her glass in front of his lips, staring deadpan at the liquor cabinet in front of him. She let out a scoff and turned around to face him.
“Hey, you!” she shouted, clearly outraged. Heechul didn’t react to the sound of her voice, making her angrier. “That’s mine! I already drank from that glass, are a hobo? What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Heechul took another sip.
“No wonder,” he muttered. The girl narrowed her eyes. Her friends quietly talked among themselves while observing.
“No wonder what?” she snapped, still standing her ground. Heechul finally turned his head to look at her, his face stoic and expressionless.
“It’s sweeter than I thought,” he replied.
He drank the rest of the Blue Hawaiian, watching as the girl’s expression changed, flustered at his words. Her anger immediately subsided, and she laughed sheepishly, preening her hair as the other girls started laughing and whispering. She shot them a glare to shut them up and cleared her throat, looking back at Heechul who was still watching her. She held out her hand.
“I’m Jaekyung,” she said in a much softer voice. Heechul shook her hand and smiled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.
“Kim Heechul.” Jaekyung bit into her lip and sat down again next to him. His eyes continued to bore the delicate features of her face. She smiled coyly and pretended to fix up her hair.”
“So, are you going to buy me another drink?” she asked. “...Heechul-sshi?”
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CHARACTERS INTRODUCED
Sungmin (Super Junior)