Only Yours - SEQUEL
Title: Only Yours [SEQUEL]
Author: mystery
Rating: R
Genre: Romance, crack, angst
Disclaimer: If I owned them, there’s no way in hell I’d write this half-assed shit about them. I’d film them 24/7.
Warning(s): Half of this is crap.
Summary: Sungmin's past is discovered. KyuMin is re-united. Zhou Mi regrets. HyukHae are being themselves.
Author’s Note: So here's the actual sequel! I know some things in this I've already written in the filler, but I decided not to take it out from this as the other was a filler and not an actual sequel.
---
Sungmin opened his eyes and blinked. Once, twice and then the ceiling stopped being so goddamn blurry. He smiled a little at the photo plastered there.
“Morning, Kyu-ah,” he sighed to himself, but then there was some more rapid knocking on his door.
“For fucks sakes, Lee Sungmin, get up!” Ryeowook, Sungmin’s best friend, shouted. “Or at least unlock the door.”
Sungmin sighed and rolled out of bed. He was going to the cinema with Ryeowook and his boyfriend today, and Ryeowook was, as per usual, overexcited. And stressed.
“Shit Wookie, calm down!” he shouted back, but knew he’d better hurry. Ryeowook didn’t swear unless he’d messed up his cooking, was really stressed or in the middle of sex, the last being a fact about his friend Sungmin would do better without.
“If you were busy fantasizing about Kyuhyun again, I am either going to strangle you or rip that picture off your fucking ceiling!” Ryeowook fumed as he stepped into Sungmin’s apartment without even saying good morning. “If he broke up with you like that, he’s not worth you anyway!”
It had been two and a half years since the horrible incident with Zhou Mi and Kyuhyun, but Sungmin told his friends that Kyuhyun had broken up with him (rather harshly, too) because someone else had entered the picture. After what had happened, Sungmin had promised himself to never ever trust anyone again - which resulted in his past being built of lies.
However, as he watched a very irritated Ryeowook stomp into his kitchen to make his breakfast, he realized that he probably couldn’t go on like this. Ryeowook (and that weird boyfriend of his, Jongwoon, who were in fact Sungmin’s only friends that didn’t want him for his looks) would continue believing that Kyuhyun was a heartless asshole slash playboy and scold Sungmin for still wanting him.
“Wookie-ah,” Sungmin said as he too entered the kitchen, startling the younger with his soft tone. “I need to tell you something.”
Ryeowook spun around, one hand on his hip, the other holding a frying pan. He was frowning.
“You’d better do it quick, we’re in a hurry!” he said, but Sungmin shook his head.
“No, Wookie-ah, this is a long story… And really important. No, it can’t wait until later, I need to tell you now. Sit down.”
Sungmin patiently waited until Ryeowook put the pan away with a sigh and sat down at the kitchen table, opposite of where Sungmin had seated himself.
“I also want to know that I can trust you.”
“Of course you can!” Ryeowook rolled his eyes. “I’m your best friend.”
Sungmin just smiled sadly at him.
“I want to know that you’ll still be my best friend, even when I tell you my entire past, as you know it, is a lie. But I do have my reasons for lying, please understand,” he said, voice soft and low. Ryeowook stared at him for a few moments, then he nodded. Sungmin smiled again and took a deep breath, closing his eyes briefly.
“I was five when my father started drinking. It wasn’t really a problem at first, me and my brother would just keep away from him if he came home reeking like alcohol, because we knew he was easily upset when he was drunk. Our mother looked after him and when he, when I was six, started hitting her, she made sure neither of us were hurt.”
Ryeowook was watching Sungmin silently, eyes wide. Sungmin had told him that his mother had died in a car crash when he was eight and that his father had hanged himself when the sorrow became too much, four years later. He’d said nothing about drinking problems and domestic abuse.
“Then came the day when he hit her unconscious and she wouldn’t wake up. I was eight, Sungjin was five. Our father told them that she died in a car crash… The lie I came to use. Of course only a few people believed him, but there wasn’t enough evidence, so he managed to escape jail. However, neither I nor Sungjin managed to escape him. At least not at first, not until I realized I could protect Sungjin; I could take the blame for everything our father put on him. Was a glass not properly clean after Sungjin had been on dishing duty, I said it was my fault. He never questioned it.”
Sungmin paused as he closed his eyes again, eyebrows furring as memories flashed in his mind. Ryeowook remained silent.
“But one day, four years later, when I came home from school, Sungjin lay unconscious on the floor, beaten bloody. He wasn’t dead, but he wasn’t far from it either. I… Lashed out. I lost it. And I… I killed him.”
Sungmin’s voice cracked here and he paused again as he tried to collect himself.
“I killed our dad. Then I brought Sungjin to the hospital. I told them the truth, he’d been beaten up by our dad… I just modified it a little and said that he’d gone after me as well and that I’d accidentally killed him in self-defense. Sungjin and I were submitted to a family within a week. They were neighbors with a Chinese family, who had a son named Zhou Mi… He became my best friend.”
Sungmin paused again and Ryeowook took the chance to stand up and go around the table, enveloping his friend in a hug. He still didn’t say anything, but words were unnecessary at the moment.
“We were happy for a few years, I suppose… Zhou Mi became the only person to know my story, to know me fully apart from Sungjin and my new family…. He also helped me realize my sexual orientation when I was fourteen. Then when I was sixteen, my brother began advancing on me. My own brother who was, by the way, only thirteen and supposed to be relatively innocent still. He started flirting with me, but when I didn’t respond, he… He made me. He held me and kissed me, and I couldn’t get away because he was three years younger than me, but already so much stronger.”
Sungmin had to pause and breathe again. Ryeowook, who hadn’t moved from his slightly awkward position, squeezed him tighter.
“Then, just a week before I turned seventeen, he… He told me he wanted me. I laughed him off, we’re brothers, but later that night… He crept into my bed.”
“Shh,” Ryeowook whispered, and Sungmin hadn’t even realized he was crying until then. “I think I know what he did. He… He raped you, didn’t he?”
“Yes. Thirteen years and-and… And already a rapist. Already so much stronger than me…”
There was a pause in which Sungmin cried and Ryeowook comforted him, rocking him back and forth.
“Okay, I think I can continue now,” Sungmin said finally and Ryeowook pulled away just enough to let him speak.
“This continued for, well… six months until I ran away from home. But no, really, I just hid over at Zhou Mi’s place and demanded to be put in another family than my brother because I thought he was annoying. We rarely spoke to each other after that, but made sure to keep in touch… for appearances.”
Suddenly Sungmin sighed and pushed Ryeowook off him, gently steering him back to his own chair.
“And now to the part of why I never trust anyone anymore, not even my best friends… As I told you, Zhou Mi was my friend since I was twelve. It was a year and a half after that when I spotted Kyuhyun, our school’s resident nerd but… well, you know what he looks like. I kept my crush secret though, but when Zhou Mi pointed him out two years later and told me he liked him, I told him I liked Kyuhyun as well. Sadly, Zhou Mi thought I didn’t discover Kyuhyun until after he did, something I found out later…”
Sungmin sighed, doing his best not to think of that horrible, horrible incident with Zhou Mi before he had to.
“Then came the day when Kyuhyun told me he wanted to go on a date with me. I was eighteen then. Zhou Mi seemed mostly happy for me, which surprised me a little, but I let it be… I should’ve known it would all explode at some point. Kyuhyun and I got two years together before Zhou Mi… well…”
Sungmin had to make another pause to collect himself before he managed to tell Ryeowook all about it, every little detail he could remember. Which admittedly wasn’t much as he was lost in pain half of the time and then blacked out.
When he finished, he lifted his head and found Ryeowook staring back at him, eyes wide and suspiciously shiny.
“Is this why we’ve never gotten to see you without a shirt either?” was his first question and Sungmin nodded. Then he stood up and removed the shirt he was wearing. Ryeowook gasped as he spotted the scars on his chest.
“Oh my God,” he whispered and finally began crying. “Sungmin, I’m so sorry…”
Sungmin said nothing and only hugged him back, crying as well. Both of them had forgotten that they were late for something - namely, the cinema - until Jongwoon barged in, asking them why the hell they hadn’t come yet and they were already an hour later. He stopped short when he realized both his boyfriend and kind-of-not-really best friend had been crying. Ryeowook sighed and sat back down, motioning for Jongwoon to do the same.
“My turn to tell the story, Min?” he asked, and Sungmin nodded.
“I don’t think I can do it again.”
Ryeowook nodded, and so he began talking, Sungmin filling in with details or correcting him when needed. When he finished, Jongwoon sat stiff in his chair for a few moments, staring at absolutely nothing, before he promptly lashed out. Sungmin didn’t mind losing some plates when he rather obviously had friends who really, really cared for him.
~~
A year passed when Kyuhyun lived with Zhou Mi, called him things like ‘sweetheart’ and ‘honey’, kissed him, had sex with him, took him on dates and introduced him as ‘my boyfriend’ but it was all an act. Zhou Mi seemed to not notice this and if he did, he chose to pretend. Everyone else fell for it, except Kyuhyun’s sister, but he didn’t tell her what had really happened either. He told her Sungmin had left town and Zhou Mi liked him as well, so why not?
Then Henry came along and Zhou Mi seemed to forget everything about Kyuhyun as soon as the younger spoke his name. Because, yes, Henry was a whole year younger than Kyuhyun.
To Henry, Henry Lau the Miraculous Violin Mochi (Zhou Mi’s nickname for Henry), Kyuhyun was introduced as Zhou Mi’s ‘best friend and roommate’. When Henry laughed and told them that was not what he’d heard, Zhou Mi gave an embarrassed giggle and said that he and Kyuhyun had broken up about a month ago upon realizing they didn’t like each other like that anymore and just hadn’t bothered telling their friends.
Kyuhyun took the first best chance he had and pulled Henry to the side.
“Don’t fall too deep,” he warned him. “Zhou Mi’s dangerous.”
But his warning seemed to have no effect whatsoever and Henry and Zhou Mi were an item within two months. This would’ve been perfectly fine by Kyuhyun if only he wasn’t sharing an apartment with them. This also would’ve been fine by Kyuhyun if they weren’t so fucking loud.
“Hey Mimi,” Kyuhyun said one day during breakfast when Henry was still asleep. “If I by chance ran into Sungmin… would that be okay with you? I mean, now that you have Henry…”
Something flashed in Zhou Mi’s eyes and Kyuhyun flinched.
“Have you been seeing him behind my back?” Zhou Mi asked, venom in his voice.
“How could I possibly, hyung?” Kyuhyun asked, knowing that ‘hyung’ would calm Zhou Mi somewhat. “I’ve always been with you.”
“Fine.” Zhou Mi sighed. “I suppose you’re right, I have Henry now.”
“Yeah, you have me now,” agreed a sleepy Henry who had just entered the kitchen. Zhou Mi’s stance changed an instant from suspicious, cold and distant to warm, loving and welcoming as he pulled Henry into his lap.
From that day onwards, Kyuhyun had been looking out for Sungmin, but yet another year passed without success and Kyuhyun was on the verge of giving up. He’d tried calling him, but his phone number was no longer in service. He tried looking for him at the coffee shop where he’d worked, but he wasn’t there either.
Then he finally gathered enough courage to go to the apartment Zhou Mi had picked out for him. Even though the name plate didn’t say Lee Sungmin (it said Park Jungsoo, and another name was scribbled next to it, nearly unreadable), he pressed the doorbell and patiently waited for someone to open.
After a while, just when Kyuhyun was about to give up, the door opened and revealed a guy who looked like he’d be somewhere in his mid-twenties, with tousled blonde-ish hair and no shirt on.
“Oh, uh, hi… My name is Kyuhyun and I just… I don’t know, I suppose I wanted to ask you something?” Kyuhyun said, hesitantly. The guy’s eyes narrowed and Kyuhyun took half a step back.
“Are you a seller of something? Because then whatever it is, I don’t want it.”
Oh. Kyuhyun nearly laughed out loud with relief as he shook his head.
“Oh, no. I just wanted to ask you something… About the guy who lived here before? He’s my ex.”
One of the other’s eyebrows shot up, but his eyes were still suspiciously narrowed.
“Are you a stalker?”
Kyuhyun sighed and shook his head again. This guy really didn’t take any risks, did he?
“No, I’m not a stalker. Let’s just say his best friend liked me as well and then he pushed him away… But now he has someone else. I just wanted to ask you if you know anything about it, please?”
The guy sighed, but finally stepped aside, letting Kyuhyun into the apartment. Kyuhyun could barely compress a shudder as he remembered the first time he’d entered the apartment. He’d been with Zhou Mi then, and he couldn’t help but to think of Sungmin, which had caused him to double over and throw up… Right on the spot where the apartment’s current inhabitant was standing.
“My name is Jungsoo by the way, but you can call me Leeteuk if you want to.”
“Okay… Leeteuk-sshi,” Kyuhyun said, his voice just a little bit weaker than before. Leeteuk frowned.
“You look a bit pale. You okay?” he asked, and Kyuhyun nodded. What else could he possibly say? He had a feeling ‘I was just thinking of the first time I entered this place, which led me think of my boyfriend and beaten up and I think I might be sick’ might not be so popular.
Ten minutes later, Kyuhyun found himself sitting at Leeteuk’s kitchen table with a cup of coffee and Leeteuk in front of him. Leeteuk had also gone to kick his sleepy boyfriend, Siwon, from bed, so now the two of them were watching him curiously.
“You got this apartment from Lee Sungmin, am I right?” Kyuhyun began.
Leeteuk nodded, Siwon smiled.
“He was one adorable little thing,” he said, but turned to look at Leeteuk as the other elbowed him. Kyuhyun just smiled.
“Yeah. He’s really adorable. However… do you have any idea what happened to him after that?” Kyuhyun asked.
“Oh, I know!” Leeteuk grinned. “He moved to Seoul. I think he’s hiring an apartment from my cousin’s girlfriend’s best friend or something like that… Ryeo… Ryeowook, was that his name, Siwon?”
“Yeah, I think so,” Siwon agreed. Kyuhyun groaned and dropped his head to the table.
“Seoul… I’ll never find him there,” he muttered, half to himself. “Adorable idiot.”
Leeteuk and Siwon laughed.
“Don’t worry. If you want to, we can help you find him.”
Kyuhyun lifted his head so quickly he was afraid he might get a whiplash.
“Really?” he said, and he could feel how wide his eyes were. Leeteuk grinned and nodded.
“I’ll call my cousin and ask him if I can get ask his girlfriend and see if I can get her to give me Ryeowook’s number.”
“I… you… Thank you!” he breathed, wide grin on his lips. “I’ll write my phone number down for you and you’ll call me and tell me how it’s going, yes?”
When Kyuhyun left fifteen minutes later, he thought the sun was shining a bit brighter. He had originally planned to go back home, but that plan quickly changed to just wandering around when he opened the door and was met with a loud ‘fuck, Henry, yes’. He was a little surprised the neighbors hadn’t complained yet, to tell the truth.
~~
“You know,” Sungmin said one day, about a week after he’d told Jongwoon and Ryeowook about his past, “I’ve felt like I’ve been watched for some while now. It isn’t scary though, really.”
Jongwoon’s only sign of having heard him was the way he raised his eyebrows, but he continued to cuddle with his turtle. Ryeowook and Sungmin said nothing; they were used to it, anyway.
“How long is ‘a while’?” Ryeowook asked, not looking up from whatever delicious-smelling food he was cooking.
“Um… A year?” Sungmin guessed. This time, Ryeowook did turn around from whatever he was cooking to stare at Sungmin, and Jongwoon even put his turtle down (on the kitchen table, but Sungmin knew Jongwoon would yell at him if he said anything about it) to be able to stare him down properly.
“Why didn’t you say something? What if you’ve gotten yourself a stalker who’s just waiting for a chance to rape you or something!” Ryeowook scolded, reminding Sungmin very much of a tiny mother (possibly housewife) with his hands on his hips, mixer in one hand.
“I didn’t get a bad feeling from it!” Sungmin defended himself, flinching a little from Jongwoon’s gaze. Never had the man looked so directly, not to mention sternly at him. To tell the truth, it was a little intimidating.
Ryeowook sighed and was about to say something, but was interrupted by Sungmin’s phone. Sungmin, glad for an excuse to get out of the kitchen, grabbed his phone and escaped the room.
“Yeobeoseyo?”
~~
Kyuhyun could’ve fainted. After two and a half years, he’d finally mustered up the courage to call Sungmin.
Leeteuk had managed to get him a photo of Ryeowook and which area of Seoul he lived in, but Ryeowook seemed to be the kind of person who brought out the protectiveness in everyone so his friend didn’t want to give his phone numbers to strangers.
However, he’d found him. Sure, it had taken him about half a year, but he’d found him. Then he’d only needed to follow Ryeowook and he’d found Sungmin as well.
His original plan had been to walk up to Sungmin and invite him out on a date, but when he saw him he kind of chickened out, and resorted to watching him instead. He hung out a lot with Ryeowook and another guy Kyuhyun hadn’t known the name of until yesterday - Jongwoon, who was a total weirdo. However, Kyuhyun owed him because it was Jongwoon who’d given him Sungmin’s phone-number and now he was finally speaking to him. Well, kind of.
“Hello? Who’s this?” Sungmin asked as there was no reply to his greeting.
“Hyung,” Kyuhyun whispered, unable to get anything else past his lips. There was a pause, then…
“Kyuhyun?!” Sungmin shrieked, and Kyuhyun had to pull the earpiece away from his ear not to go deaf.
“Yes, it’s me, hyung,” he replied, suddenly a lot calmer. There was another pause, longer this time. Kyuhyun was content with the silence, as long as Sungmin didn’t hang up on him… Or so he thought, until he heard sob.
“Hyung, are you crying?” he asked, worried.
“Yes!” Sungmin replied. “I’m crying, you asshole, because I’m so fucking happy!”
“Oh.”
Kyuhyun gave Sungmin some time to gather himself, but then he half wished he hadn’t as Sungmin immediately bombarded him with questions.
“How are you? How come you called? Isn’t Zhou Mi there? Oh my God, I missed you!”
“Shit hyung, one thing at the time, okay?” Kyuhyun chuckled. “I’m fine, actually. I called because, well… I finally found your phone number, duh. And Zhou Mi is… Probably in bed with Henry. I missed you too, hyung, so fucking much you wouldn’t believe it.”
“… Who’s Henry?”
“Mimi’s new boyfriend. They met a year ago.”
“And you haven’t called me yet?!”
“I’m sorry, okay? But you were kind of difficult to track… Hey, is it okay if I come by your apartment?”
“Of course. Oh my God, I can’t wait to see you again!”
~~
As soon as they heard ‘Kyuhyun?!’ leave Sungmin’s mouth, Ryeowook and Jongwoon froze. Ryeowook stared at Jongwoon, who stared back (his turtle, forgotten, was crawling around on the table), and mouthed ‘how could it possibly be Kyuhyun?’. Jongwoon shrugged and chose not to say anything about his meeting with the other yesterday.
Five minutes later, Sungmin bounced into the kitchen. It was obvious he’d been crying, but he was smiling so wide Ryeowook was afraid his face might split and, well, he was bouncing.
“Kyuhyun will be here soon,” he announced in a sing-song voice. “Ah, I can’t wait for you to meet him!”
Ryeowook was about to say something, but was interrupted for a second time - this time by the doorbell, not Sungmin’s phone. Sungmin took a few deep breaths, did his best to hide his smile (which was pretty obvious anyway) and then went out to open the door, but because he was trying not to bounce, his walking became kind of stiff. Jongwoon half-suppressed a snort and Ryeowook only just managed not to giggle.
As the door opened, Sungmin froze on the spot. Kyuhyun looked… more or less the same. A little bit more tired, a bit more mature, but he was the same Kyuhyun, no doubt.
Sungmin stared. Kyuhyun stared back. Then, slowly, a smile spread on Sungmin’s lips.
“Kyu-ah,” he whispered. Kyuhyun smiled back and opened his arms for Sungmin to step into. Ryeowook and Jongwoon reached the hallway just as Sungmin took a step forward and Kyuhyun pulled him into a hug.
“Yah,” Sungmin said, but he was giggling as his fist connected with Kyuhyun’s chest. “You’ve gotten taller than me.”
Kyuhyun chuckled, but didn’t say anything. Everything was silent for a few minutes, until Sungmin pulled away from Kyuhyun just enough to be able to turn to Ryeowook and Jongwoon, who were watching the couple with smiles on their faces.
“Ryeowook, Jongwoon - this is Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun, this is Ryeowook and Jongwoon, my best friends,” he introduced the three to each other. Kyuhyun bowed slightly.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Pleasure’s all ours!” Ryeowook sing-songed. “Anyone hungry?”
“Ryeowook isn’t only my best friend and landlord, but also more or less my cook…” Sungmin told Kyuhyun, who laughed. “And just so you know, Jongwoon is rather weird. He has turtles.”
“Okay…”
“Yep,” Jongwoon confirmed, following Ryeowook into the kitchen, “and one of them is about to fall off the table.”
As Ryeowook heard the last part, he managed to spin around and graciously catch mentioned turtle mid-air.
“Woah,” Jongwoon said, though he didn’t sound particularly overwhelmed or even remotely impressed. “Thanks Wookie.”
“They’re a couple as well,” Sungmin explained to Kyuhyun, who nodded and smiled, careful not to touch the surface of the table as he sat down.
“I’ve heard turtles can spread diseases. Is that true?” he cautiously asked. Sungmin giggled but didn’t say anything as he quickly got out a rag and some alcohol and started cleaning off the table. Jongwoon ignored him altogether as he cuddled with his turtle and Ryeowook hummed something rather absentmindedly.
“Jongwoonie, you can go put your turtle in his tank, dinner will be ready any second. And wash your hands!” Ryeowook shouted after his boyfriend as Jongwoon stood up and exited the kitchen to put his turtle in the tank Sungmin owned for the sole purpose of Jongwoon’s turtles’ convenience. He sighed as Jongwoon, as per usual, showed no sign of having heard him. Kyuhyun chuckled.
“He’s a bit, um, odd, isn’t he?”
“A bit? I think ‘crazily abnormal’ wouldn’t be enough,” Sungmin giggled. Ryeowook rolled his eyes, although he was smiling.
“Odd but loveable,” he corrected them.
“Whatever,” Sungmin said, waving his hand.
Ryeowook’s flow of questions for Kyuhyun during dinner seemed never-ending.
“So when’s your birthday? Minnie only told us how old you are, and guess what? You’re the youngest in here.”
“Really?” Kyuhyun asked, smiling. “You look a lot younger. Jongwoon-hyung too. And my birthday is on the third of February.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you call anyone ‘hyung’ before,” Sungmin said, one eyebrow raised. “Except me.”
Kyuhyun smiled, but then he sighed.
“We’ll need to talk about it sooner or later, you know,” he said in a low voice. “I’ve spent two years pretending you don’t exist and I just… I can’t pretend it never happened, okay?”
“I know,” Sungmin mumbled back, his eyes wider than ever. “I can’t either.”
The rest of dinner was consumed in silence, Kyuhyun and Sungmin mostly thinking of what to say and Jongwoon and Ryeowook trying to give the recently re-united couple some space to think. When everyone were finished, Ryeowook started doing the dishes without a word. Jongwoon hopped up on the counter next to him, humming a random tune and swinging his legs.
“Stay,” Sungmin suddenly said. “While we talk.”
“You want me and Jongwoon to stay while you and Kyuhyun-sshi talk?” Ryeowook clarified.
“Yes. As moral support, or… or something.”
Ryeowook turned around, smiling at Sungmin.
“If it’s okay with Kyuhyun-sshi,” he said as he shifted his gaze to the youngest. Kyuhyun gave him a small smile.
“No need to be formal. Ming’s friends are my friends, and if he wants you to stay… you’ll stay.”
“If only Jongwoon was a bit more like you…” Ryeowook sighed, earning a smack on the back of his head from Jongwoon and a laugh from Kyuhyun and Sungmin (rather embarrassed on Kyuhyun’s part).
“Trust me, you don’t want Jongwoon to be like Kyu,” Sungmin said. “Kyu’s a total nerd and unless I physically drag him away from it, he’ll sit by the computer all day.”
Ryeowook laughed whole-heartedly at that as he returned to the dishes.
Half an hour later, they were all gathered in the living room; Ryeowook in Jongwoon’s lap in the only armchair and Kyuhyun and Sungmin right next to each other.
“Zhou Mi-hyu-“ Kyuhyun interrupted himself. “Zhou Mi is dangerous.”
“I figured,” Sungmin muttered under his breath, not looking at Kyuhyun.
“He has no natural barriers when it comes to anger, no flashing red lights that tell him to stop. I never got him to the point that it could be proven, but I could see it in his eyes. Whenever I mentioned you, no matter how indirect or brief, he… I don’t know.”
Kyuhyun continued to tell his story and it wasn’t long before Sungmin was in tears. The younger made a pause then, to pull the other into his lap, before he continued, now mumbling into Sungmin’s ear. Ryeowook didn’t even know this guy, didn’t know what he’d been like before or what this Zhou Mi-guy was like either, but his eyes filled with tears nonetheless. Even Jongwoon was unusually quiet and concentrated.
When Kyuhyun was finished, everything was silent except for the occasional sniffle from Sungmin.
“How could he do that to you? To us?” Sungmin whispered finally. “I trusted him.”
Kyuhyun remained silent as he put his fingers under Sungmin’s chin, lifting his face so he could kiss him.
“That’s only for you,” he mumbled against Sungmin’s lips when they parted. “I’m all yours, only yours. I did it so you wouldn’t be hurt, you know that right?”
Sungmin sniffled again, but nodded before leaning in to steal another kiss. Ryeowook decided it was time for him and Jongwoon to leave now.
“All mine,” Sungmin sighed into Kyuhyun’s mouth.
~~
The next morning, the two of them were rudely woken up by a series of loud knocking on the door.
“Minniemin, make them go away,” Kyuhyun groaned. “I don’t want visitors this early in the morning.”
“That’d be Wookie,” Sungmin answered through a yawn as he stood up, stretching his body. “And he’s probably come to make us breakfast. Be grateful.”
Kyuhyun couldn’t resist staring at Sungmin’s thighs as the long white shirt the older had worn to bed rode up when he stretched. Sungmin snorted as he noticed his stare.
“Still as pervy as ever, hm? But you’ll have to wait ‘til Wookie and Jongwoon leaves.”
Kyuhyun just smirked as he made himself comfortable on the bed, reveling in the way the sheets smelled of Sungmin.
“Nice ass,” he commented as he watched Sungmin leave the room. The older snorted, but didn’t say anything.
Breakfast was consumed in silence, but neither Jongwoon nor Ryeowook were blind to the heated looks Kyuhyun sent Sungmin’s way; nor to the way Sungmin blushed and refused to meet the younger’s gaze.
“Christ, you two!” Jongwoon burst halfway through the meal. “Just go fuck already.”
Ryeowook blushed, but excused himself along with his boyfriend, leaving Kyuhyun and Sungmin staring at each other across the table. Sungmin was the first to make a move as he stood up, abandoning his half-eating sandwich in favor of rounding the table and straddling Kyuhyun’s lap.
He leaned in to place a soft kiss on Kyuhyun’s lips, a kiss that quickly became rather heated. Sungmin moaned into Kyuhyun’s mouth as the still-familiar taste of Kyuhyun invaded his senses.
“I swear you’ve gotten sexier,” he breathed when they parted. Kyuhyun merely smirked and claimed his lips for another kiss.
However, Kyuhyun stiffened when Sungmin’s hands went up under his shirt. Sungmin pulled away from him, eyebrows furrowed slightly - in worry or in confusion, Kyuhyun was unable to tell.
“Hey,” Sungmin said softly, leaning his forehead against Kyuhyun’s. “We don’t have to do this. I can wait.”
“But I want to do this!” Kyuhyun whimpered, clenching his eyes shut in frustration and therefore missing Sungmin’s smirk.
“Don’t push yourself, baby.”
There was a pause, in which Kyuhyun considered the situation and his feelings, which were very messed up. While a part of him told him this was Zhou Mi trying to get into his pants again and made him withdraw, a part of him (the part in his pants) told him he wanted this very much.
“Okay,” he said finally. “Not now.”
He opened his eyes and his breath hitched as the first thing he saw was Sungmin’s smiling eyes. Because really, Sungmin could smile with his eyes without having moved his lips at all.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “Sure you’re not an angel?”
Sungmin threw his head back and laughed. Kyuhyun’s heart ached at the sound - he’d missed Sungmin so much he almost didn’t dare to believe that this was reality, here and now.
“I missed you so much, Kyun. Come on, let’s cuddle all day,” Sungmin said as he stood up, the smile not leaving his face for one second as he pulled the younger with him to the bedroom, cuddling up as close as possible to him once they’d settled down.
“I missed your scent, your eyes, your smile,” Kyuhyun mumbled suddenly. “How you can pull off the perfect puppy look without even trying, how you seem really innocent but can be a total slut in bed, how you like pink things and totally love anything that is cute. What did I do to deserve you?”
Sungmin giggled.
“I don’t know, but I’m glad you did something. I need you. You’re my knight in shining armor,” he replied, his breath moistening the skin on Kyuhyun’s neck.
Like this they continued back and forth until they eventually fell back asleep, limbs tightly entwined.
~~
Sungmin woke up as he felt lips against his skin; the underside of his jaw, his cheeks, his forehead, his nose and then his lips. He opened his eyes and found himself staring straight into Kyuhyun’s chocolate brown orbs.
“Hm, that’s a nice way to wake up,” he mumbled, his voice raspy with sleep, as he stretched his body as good as possible under Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun grinned down at him.
“It is, isn’t it? It would be better if I wasn’t really hungry.”
Sungmin laughed and pushed at Kyuhyun just enough so he could sit up.
“Time to call Ryeowook?” he suggested, laughing again as Kyuhyun nodded eagerly.
He wished he hadn’t as when Ryeowook answered, he was panting.
“No, Jongwoon, the phone…!” Sungmin heard. “Um, hello?”
“Wookie, what are you doing?”
“Oh!” Ryeowook squeaked and Sungmin scrunched up his nose. Kyuhyun raised his eyebrows at him in question, so he put the phone on loudspeaker, just as Ryeowook squeaked again. “It’s just you. I thought it might be mom or something.”
“And we wouldn’t want that, now would we?” Kyuhyun cut in, obviously startling Ryeowook as the other let out another ‘oh!’.
“No, I’d rather avoid it,” a fourth voice joined the conversation - Jongwoon’s.
“Ha! I was right then,” Sungmin concluded. “Stop assaulting your boyfriend and get your asses over here, Jongwoon.”
Jongwoon chuckled, while Ryeowook offered them an embarrassed sound.
“Okay, we’ll be there in ten minutes,” he promised. “Jongwoon, get off-“
Kyuhyun and Sungmin stared at each other for a moment before they started laughing.
“Judging by the look on your face,” Kyuhyun said when he calmed down, “that’s not very unusual.”
“Jongwoon manages to keep his hands to himself when he’s here,” Sungmin shrugged. “It’s a whole other thing when Wookie’s on the phone.”
Kyuhyun laughed, shaking his head.
“Kinda like you and me, huh?”
“I guess.
Ryeowook kept his word and appeared on Sungmin’s doorstep ten minutes later, a rather grumpy-looking Jongwoon in tow.
“What do you want me to make?” Ryeowook asked, huge smile on his face.
~~
A week later, Sungmin and Kyuhyun had decided that Kyuhyun would move in with Sungmin and were on their way to Zhou Mi and Henry’s place to collect his stuff.
“Are you sure you want to come along?” Kyuhyun asked several times, even as they had nearly reached their destination. Each time, Sungmin would just roll his eyes and not, despite his growing nervousness.
Then suddenly they were there, face to face with an unknown boy Sungmin realized must be Henry.
“Is Zhou Mi home?” Kyuhyun asked, and the boy nodded.
“Wait a sec.” He turned around so he could shout into the apartment; “Mimi-hyung! Kyuhyun is here! And… I’m sorry, what’s your name?”
“Sungmin,” Sungmin mumbled, a bit nervous.
“And Sungmin!”
Zhou Mi appeared in a flash, looking part stressed, part surprised and part excited.
“Oh my God, Minniemin! Long time, no see,” he greeted Sungmin, pulling the other into a hug. Sungmin was stunned. It was as though nothing had ever happened. As if Zhou Mi hadn’t stolen his boyfriend and beat him half to death. It was as if he’d just been away on vacation for a while.
“Yeah,” he managed, though his voice came out somewhat strangled. “Long time no see…”
Kyuhyun managed to get through watching Zhou Mi making hot chocolate before he burst.
“Zhou Mi,” he started, taking a deep breath as the older spun towards him. “You can’t just pretend it never happened.”
Zhou Mi’s eyes darkened and his shoulders stiffened. Sungmin grabbed Kyuhyun’s hand, clenching it in his own. Henry looked from the couple to Zhou Mi and back again, confusion evident in his voice. Then, suddenly, Zhou Mi’s stance turned sad.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry Minniemin.”
“What?” Henry asked. “Tell me, please.”
Zhou Mi sighed and went to sit down next to Henry.
“I’m not… a very good person, Henli.”
“Yes you are!” Henry protested. “You’re the best!”
“I tried to warn you, remember?” Kyuhyun cut in. “You’ll understand why when we’re done telling you our story, okay?”
Henry hesitantly nodded.
“Um, I… Maybe I should start?” Sungmin mumbled, nervous. When both Zhou Mi and Kyuhyun nodded, he began talking.
Throughout their story-telling, from different points of views and each one of them filling in details, there were close to no interruptions. Zhou Mi was a bit surprised that Sungmin had liked Kyuhyun since the first time he saw it, but he quickly decided not to start a fight about it - he was over Kyuhyun now, anyway.
When they were finished, Henry was trembling and his eyes were filled with tears. Sungmin wasn’t sure whether it was from rage or fright or sadness… Then Henry spoke, in Mandarin, and his voice was trembling even more than his body.
Zhou Mi whispered something back, sounding devastated. Henry flew up from his chair, screaming something, and Sungmin realized he was beyond furious. As he continued to scream in Mandarin, Sungmin and Kyuhyun got to witness Zhou Mi crying for the first time. He mumbled something under his breath that to Kyuhyun, who had gotten sporadic Mandarin lessons from the other, the one thing he’d liked with their relationship, sounded like “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Then Henry stormed out from the apartment, slamming the door shut behind him and everything was over. The silence echoed in the apartment, bouncing against the walls and making Sungmin wince.
“I’m sorry,” Zhou Mi finally broke the silence, switching back to Korean. “I really… I don’t know what comes over me sometimes. Feelings just overflow and I… can’t stop.”
Both Kyuhyun and Sungmin nodded and the silence continued to stretch, until a thought struck Sungmin with breathtaking force.
“You haven’t ever thought that you might have… you know… some kind of disorder?” he asked Zhou Mi under his breath, a little scared of how the other would react.
“That makes sense,” Kyuhyun mused. Zhou Mi just stared at them.
“Should I call a shrink or something?” he asked after a few minutes.
“I’d call Henry first if I were you,” Sungmin suggested. “Come on Kyun, we’d better gather your things. Ryeowook and Jongwoon will be here any second.”
Kyuhyun nodded and stood up, motioning for Sungmin to follow him. Zhou Mi stared after them as reality dawned upon him.
First, he’d hurt a person who’d gone through more than necessary already, and hurt him bad. Second, he’d lost two awesome friends. Third, he was probably mental. Fourth… it would be just his luck if he’d lost a boyfriend as well. A boyfriend who hadn’t been forced, but chosen him.
Sungmin and Kyuhyun were finished gathering Kyuhyun’s things rather quickly, and Sungmin called Ryeowook to see where they were.
“They’re right outside, I’ll go help them,” Sungmin told Kyuhyun before he exited the apartment. Kyuhyun sat down, cross-legged, on the floor or what had been the guest room until Henry moved in; then it became Kyuhyun’s room.
“Hyung,” Henry’s voice startled Kyuhyun. “Zhou Mi has something to say.”
Kyuhyun looked up as Zhou Mi walked into the room to stand in front of him. After a few moments in silence, the younger of the two decided to stand up as well. He was nearly as tall as Zhou Mi.
“I’m sorry,” Zhou mi whispered. “I realize what it must’ve felt like… what I must’ve done to you. I’m so sorry Kyuhyun-ah.”
Kyuhyun stared at the older for a few minutes, thinking.
“I hope you realize it’ll take a long time for me to forgive you. Sungmin too. I want you to stop calling me by the nicknames you gave me and I don’t want you to pretend it never happened.”
Zhou Mi looked up at this, eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
“Why not? Wouldn’t that be easier?”
“No, Zhou Mi, it wouldn’t. I’m sick of having to hide my feelings, pretending things never happened. I also want you to apologize to Sungmin and stay on a safe distance from him. Okay?” Kyuhyun continued, just as Sungmin re-entered, Ryeowook and Jongwoon trailing close behind, cardboard boxes in their hands.
Zhou Mi nodded, freezing as he turned around and noticed the three newcomers.
“Oh. Sungmin. I… I’m really sorry for what I did to you.”
Sungmin’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
“And Kyuhyun,” Zhou Mi added, sensing rather than seeing his friend’s anger. “I know it’ll take a while for you to forgive me, if ever, but I just wanted to say… I’m really sorry.”
His voice cracked at the end as his eyes filled with tears again.
“That’s a start,” Sungmin said before he coldly turned his back on his former friend and began helping Ryeowook, Jongwoon and Kyuhyun to pack Kyuhyun’s stuff.
~~
Six months later, life was pretty good for all of them. Hyukjae and Donghae had decided to move up to Seoul as well and were living five minutes away from Kyuhyun and Sungmin. Ryeowook usually cooked dinner for the three couples at Sungmin’s place and Jongwoon always helped him - until the time Kyuhyun caught Jongwoon fucking Ryeowook over the table.
“Oh my fucking God, hyung!” he’d screamed, covering his eyes. “That’s our kitchen table, eww! Keep it in your pants, please!”
Sungmin and Donghae, being as curious as they were, immediately came rushing to see what was happening - and immediately wished they hadn’t. Hyukjae was a bit smarter than that and stayed out of it all until YeWook (Jongwoon had proudly declared, about a week earlier, that his and Ryeowook’s couple name was YeWook. No one dared ask where the fuck he got the ‘ye’ from) were finished. Then he’d calmly demanded the two of them to clean up after themselves, apologize to those who had had their innocence ruined (that would be Sungmin and Donghae, as they’d discovered that Kyuhyun was far from innocent) and Sungmin had banned Jongwoon from being in the kitchen while Ryeowook was cooking.
Kyuhyun had gotten over his fear to be touched, but he and Sungmin still hadn’t had sex. The other four were starting to get rather fed up with it all; the sexual tension that by now was so thick it was nearly palpable, Kyuhyun’s lewd comments and Sungmin’s not-so-discreet gropes.
That problem was solved as the six of them one day decided to have dinner at HyukHae’s place instead of KyuMin’s (Ryeowook was the one who’d come up with the rest of the couple names after Jongwoon declared they had one) and, as YeWook and HyukHae all busied themselves, KyuMin got busy on the couch in the living room.
Ryeowook screamed rather loud when he discovered Sungmin with Kyuhyun’s cock down his throat. Hyukjae, being as cool as he was with scenes like these, calmly pulled him away from the living room and told him to ‘let them have their go at it, they haven’t been laid for years’.
“I think you have semen in your hair,” was the first thing that left Jongwoon’s mouth as KyuMin re-entered the kitchen. Sungmin blushed and rushed to the bathroom.
“Why didn’t you tell me so?!” he hissed at Kyuhyun when he came back. Kyuhyun smirked at him.
“Because you look totally hot with my come all over your face,” was his reply, which made Sungmin blush furiously and the others laugh.
~~
It took yet another six months for Zhou Mi and Henry to move up Seoul and join the group of couples. At first, Zhou Mi was treated somewhat harshly, until Sungmin pointed out that he probably regretted his actions enough and that they shouldn’t make it worse. After that, the only odd thing in the group was that Kyuhyun refused to touch Zhou Mi in any way and Sungmin would rather go to Ryeowook for spazzing than to Zhou Mi.
The dynamics of their group were also rather interesting. Zhou Mi was the diva who’d screech like a newborn baby if he walked in on anyone having sex (which happened rather often), but be totally cool if anyone walked in on him being fucked by Henry; Donghae was the hyper five-year-old trapped in a horny twenty-year-old’s body; Jongwoon was the weirdo and the creep; Sungmin was the one who outwardly seemed most gay, but he was also physically the strongest of the all; Ryeowook was somewhat like their mother; Hyukjae was cool in all situations, except if anyone walked in on him and Donghae; Henry would randomly switch between Korean, Mandarin and English and no one understood fully what he said even if he kept to one language because he just never made sense; Kyuhyun was the smartest and dirtiest of them all, not to mention a game-addict. All in all, they were the perfect group of friends.
That didn’t mean they couldn’t think the others were odd. When Donghae one morning ran into KyuMin’s apartment, shouting “hey guys, guys! We should totally go to Brazil for a week!” everyone stared at him as though he’d said he was an alien (which wasn’t very unlikely, considering we’re talking about Donghae).
“You’re crazy,” KyuMin said at the same time as YeWook said, “That’s actually a good idea,” and Zhou Mi squealed exclaimed, “That’s the best idea you’ve ever had! When are we going?”
Another thing that was special for the eight of them (four Zhou Mi always insisted) was their meals; they’d made a schedule for when they’d eat and where. If anyone couldn’t come, they’d call an hour before (everyone were always disappointed when YeWook couldn’t come because Ryeowook was definitely the best cook).
However, despite KyuMin’s and Henry’s protests, eight tickets to Brazil were booked within a week and they found themselves being pulled into the whirlpool of energy that was Donghae’s Excitement. With capital letters.
~~
Kyuhyun didn’t think Brazil was bad. He rather enjoyed walking along the beaches hand-in-hand with Sungmin and watching the sun set, no matter how cheesy it was.
“You know, Kyuhyun started on one evening like that, when Sungmin had prompted them to sit down in the water. Sungmin had his head leaned against Kyuhyun’s shoulder and Kyuhyun’s arm went around Sungmin’s shoulder - all in all, Kyuhyun felt more peaceful than ever before. “I really love you.”
Sungmin giggled and moved closer yet to Kyuhyun. However that was even possible, Kyuhyun wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t about to protest either.
“I really, really love you too.”
Kyuhyun smiled and turned his head, placing his lips over Sungmin’s for a gentle kiss that made his skin tingle. A small, contended sigh escaped him as they parted.
“I’m only yours,” he mumbled against Sungmin’s lips, feeling them curve into a smile.
“Yeah,” Sungmin sighed happily. “And I’m only yours.”
“Forever and ever,” they chorused, breaking into laughter before joining their lips for another breathtakingly perfect kiss.
Author: mystery
Rating: R
Genre: Romance, crack, angst
Disclaimer: If I owned them, there’s no way in hell I’d write this half-assed shit about them. I’d film them 24/7.
Warning(s): Half of this is crap.
Summary: Sungmin's past is discovered. KyuMin is re-united. Zhou Mi regrets. HyukHae are being themselves.
Author’s Note: So here's the actual sequel! I know some things in this I've already written in the filler, but I decided not to take it out from this as the other was a filler and not an actual sequel.
---
Sungmin opened his eyes and blinked. Once, twice and then the ceiling stopped being so goddamn blurry. He smiled a little at the photo plastered there.
“Morning, Kyu-ah,” he sighed to himself, but then there was some more rapid knocking on his door.
“For fucks sakes, Lee Sungmin, get up!” Ryeowook, Sungmin’s best friend, shouted. “Or at least unlock the door.”
Sungmin sighed and rolled out of bed. He was going to the cinema with Ryeowook and his boyfriend today, and Ryeowook was, as per usual, overexcited. And stressed.
“Shit Wookie, calm down!” he shouted back, but knew he’d better hurry. Ryeowook didn’t swear unless he’d messed up his cooking, was really stressed or in the middle of sex, the last being a fact about his friend Sungmin would do better without.
“If you were busy fantasizing about Kyuhyun again, I am either going to strangle you or rip that picture off your fucking ceiling!” Ryeowook fumed as he stepped into Sungmin’s apartment without even saying good morning. “If he broke up with you like that, he’s not worth you anyway!”
It had been two and a half years since the horrible incident with Zhou Mi and Kyuhyun, but Sungmin told his friends that Kyuhyun had broken up with him (rather harshly, too) because someone else had entered the picture. After what had happened, Sungmin had promised himself to never ever trust anyone again - which resulted in his past being built of lies.
However, as he watched a very irritated Ryeowook stomp into his kitchen to make his breakfast, he realized that he probably couldn’t go on like this. Ryeowook (and that weird boyfriend of his, Jongwoon, who were in fact Sungmin’s only friends that didn’t want him for his looks) would continue believing that Kyuhyun was a heartless asshole slash playboy and scold Sungmin for still wanting him.
“Wookie-ah,” Sungmin said as he too entered the kitchen, startling the younger with his soft tone. “I need to tell you something.”
Ryeowook spun around, one hand on his hip, the other holding a frying pan. He was frowning.
“You’d better do it quick, we’re in a hurry!” he said, but Sungmin shook his head.
“No, Wookie-ah, this is a long story… And really important. No, it can’t wait until later, I need to tell you now. Sit down.”
Sungmin patiently waited until Ryeowook put the pan away with a sigh and sat down at the kitchen table, opposite of where Sungmin had seated himself.
“I also want to know that I can trust you.”
“Of course you can!” Ryeowook rolled his eyes. “I’m your best friend.”
Sungmin just smiled sadly at him.
“I want to know that you’ll still be my best friend, even when I tell you my entire past, as you know it, is a lie. But I do have my reasons for lying, please understand,” he said, voice soft and low. Ryeowook stared at him for a few moments, then he nodded. Sungmin smiled again and took a deep breath, closing his eyes briefly.
“I was five when my father started drinking. It wasn’t really a problem at first, me and my brother would just keep away from him if he came home reeking like alcohol, because we knew he was easily upset when he was drunk. Our mother looked after him and when he, when I was six, started hitting her, she made sure neither of us were hurt.”
Ryeowook was watching Sungmin silently, eyes wide. Sungmin had told him that his mother had died in a car crash when he was eight and that his father had hanged himself when the sorrow became too much, four years later. He’d said nothing about drinking problems and domestic abuse.
“Then came the day when he hit her unconscious and she wouldn’t wake up. I was eight, Sungjin was five. Our father told them that she died in a car crash… The lie I came to use. Of course only a few people believed him, but there wasn’t enough evidence, so he managed to escape jail. However, neither I nor Sungjin managed to escape him. At least not at first, not until I realized I could protect Sungjin; I could take the blame for everything our father put on him. Was a glass not properly clean after Sungjin had been on dishing duty, I said it was my fault. He never questioned it.”
Sungmin paused as he closed his eyes again, eyebrows furring as memories flashed in his mind. Ryeowook remained silent.
“But one day, four years later, when I came home from school, Sungjin lay unconscious on the floor, beaten bloody. He wasn’t dead, but he wasn’t far from it either. I… Lashed out. I lost it. And I… I killed him.”
Sungmin’s voice cracked here and he paused again as he tried to collect himself.
“I killed our dad. Then I brought Sungjin to the hospital. I told them the truth, he’d been beaten up by our dad… I just modified it a little and said that he’d gone after me as well and that I’d accidentally killed him in self-defense. Sungjin and I were submitted to a family within a week. They were neighbors with a Chinese family, who had a son named Zhou Mi… He became my best friend.”
Sungmin paused again and Ryeowook took the chance to stand up and go around the table, enveloping his friend in a hug. He still didn’t say anything, but words were unnecessary at the moment.
“We were happy for a few years, I suppose… Zhou Mi became the only person to know my story, to know me fully apart from Sungjin and my new family…. He also helped me realize my sexual orientation when I was fourteen. Then when I was sixteen, my brother began advancing on me. My own brother who was, by the way, only thirteen and supposed to be relatively innocent still. He started flirting with me, but when I didn’t respond, he… He made me. He held me and kissed me, and I couldn’t get away because he was three years younger than me, but already so much stronger.”
Sungmin had to pause and breathe again. Ryeowook, who hadn’t moved from his slightly awkward position, squeezed him tighter.
“Then, just a week before I turned seventeen, he… He told me he wanted me. I laughed him off, we’re brothers, but later that night… He crept into my bed.”
“Shh,” Ryeowook whispered, and Sungmin hadn’t even realized he was crying until then. “I think I know what he did. He… He raped you, didn’t he?”
“Yes. Thirteen years and-and… And already a rapist. Already so much stronger than me…”
There was a pause in which Sungmin cried and Ryeowook comforted him, rocking him back and forth.
“Okay, I think I can continue now,” Sungmin said finally and Ryeowook pulled away just enough to let him speak.
“This continued for, well… six months until I ran away from home. But no, really, I just hid over at Zhou Mi’s place and demanded to be put in another family than my brother because I thought he was annoying. We rarely spoke to each other after that, but made sure to keep in touch… for appearances.”
Suddenly Sungmin sighed and pushed Ryeowook off him, gently steering him back to his own chair.
“And now to the part of why I never trust anyone anymore, not even my best friends… As I told you, Zhou Mi was my friend since I was twelve. It was a year and a half after that when I spotted Kyuhyun, our school’s resident nerd but… well, you know what he looks like. I kept my crush secret though, but when Zhou Mi pointed him out two years later and told me he liked him, I told him I liked Kyuhyun as well. Sadly, Zhou Mi thought I didn’t discover Kyuhyun until after he did, something I found out later…”
Sungmin sighed, doing his best not to think of that horrible, horrible incident with Zhou Mi before he had to.
“Then came the day when Kyuhyun told me he wanted to go on a date with me. I was eighteen then. Zhou Mi seemed mostly happy for me, which surprised me a little, but I let it be… I should’ve known it would all explode at some point. Kyuhyun and I got two years together before Zhou Mi… well…”
Sungmin had to make another pause to collect himself before he managed to tell Ryeowook all about it, every little detail he could remember. Which admittedly wasn’t much as he was lost in pain half of the time and then blacked out.
When he finished, he lifted his head and found Ryeowook staring back at him, eyes wide and suspiciously shiny.
“Is this why we’ve never gotten to see you without a shirt either?” was his first question and Sungmin nodded. Then he stood up and removed the shirt he was wearing. Ryeowook gasped as he spotted the scars on his chest.
“Oh my God,” he whispered and finally began crying. “Sungmin, I’m so sorry…”
Sungmin said nothing and only hugged him back, crying as well. Both of them had forgotten that they were late for something - namely, the cinema - until Jongwoon barged in, asking them why the hell they hadn’t come yet and they were already an hour later. He stopped short when he realized both his boyfriend and kind-of-not-really best friend had been crying. Ryeowook sighed and sat back down, motioning for Jongwoon to do the same.
“My turn to tell the story, Min?” he asked, and Sungmin nodded.
“I don’t think I can do it again.”
Ryeowook nodded, and so he began talking, Sungmin filling in with details or correcting him when needed. When he finished, Jongwoon sat stiff in his chair for a few moments, staring at absolutely nothing, before he promptly lashed out. Sungmin didn’t mind losing some plates when he rather obviously had friends who really, really cared for him.
~~
A year passed when Kyuhyun lived with Zhou Mi, called him things like ‘sweetheart’ and ‘honey’, kissed him, had sex with him, took him on dates and introduced him as ‘my boyfriend’ but it was all an act. Zhou Mi seemed to not notice this and if he did, he chose to pretend. Everyone else fell for it, except Kyuhyun’s sister, but he didn’t tell her what had really happened either. He told her Sungmin had left town and Zhou Mi liked him as well, so why not?
Then Henry came along and Zhou Mi seemed to forget everything about Kyuhyun as soon as the younger spoke his name. Because, yes, Henry was a whole year younger than Kyuhyun.
To Henry, Henry Lau the Miraculous Violin Mochi (Zhou Mi’s nickname for Henry), Kyuhyun was introduced as Zhou Mi’s ‘best friend and roommate’. When Henry laughed and told them that was not what he’d heard, Zhou Mi gave an embarrassed giggle and said that he and Kyuhyun had broken up about a month ago upon realizing they didn’t like each other like that anymore and just hadn’t bothered telling their friends.
Kyuhyun took the first best chance he had and pulled Henry to the side.
“Don’t fall too deep,” he warned him. “Zhou Mi’s dangerous.”
But his warning seemed to have no effect whatsoever and Henry and Zhou Mi were an item within two months. This would’ve been perfectly fine by Kyuhyun if only he wasn’t sharing an apartment with them. This also would’ve been fine by Kyuhyun if they weren’t so fucking loud.
“Hey Mimi,” Kyuhyun said one day during breakfast when Henry was still asleep. “If I by chance ran into Sungmin… would that be okay with you? I mean, now that you have Henry…”
Something flashed in Zhou Mi’s eyes and Kyuhyun flinched.
“Have you been seeing him behind my back?” Zhou Mi asked, venom in his voice.
“How could I possibly, hyung?” Kyuhyun asked, knowing that ‘hyung’ would calm Zhou Mi somewhat. “I’ve always been with you.”
“Fine.” Zhou Mi sighed. “I suppose you’re right, I have Henry now.”
“Yeah, you have me now,” agreed a sleepy Henry who had just entered the kitchen. Zhou Mi’s stance changed an instant from suspicious, cold and distant to warm, loving and welcoming as he pulled Henry into his lap.
From that day onwards, Kyuhyun had been looking out for Sungmin, but yet another year passed without success and Kyuhyun was on the verge of giving up. He’d tried calling him, but his phone number was no longer in service. He tried looking for him at the coffee shop where he’d worked, but he wasn’t there either.
Then he finally gathered enough courage to go to the apartment Zhou Mi had picked out for him. Even though the name plate didn’t say Lee Sungmin (it said Park Jungsoo, and another name was scribbled next to it, nearly unreadable), he pressed the doorbell and patiently waited for someone to open.
After a while, just when Kyuhyun was about to give up, the door opened and revealed a guy who looked like he’d be somewhere in his mid-twenties, with tousled blonde-ish hair and no shirt on.
“Oh, uh, hi… My name is Kyuhyun and I just… I don’t know, I suppose I wanted to ask you something?” Kyuhyun said, hesitantly. The guy’s eyes narrowed and Kyuhyun took half a step back.
“Are you a seller of something? Because then whatever it is, I don’t want it.”
Oh. Kyuhyun nearly laughed out loud with relief as he shook his head.
“Oh, no. I just wanted to ask you something… About the guy who lived here before? He’s my ex.”
One of the other’s eyebrows shot up, but his eyes were still suspiciously narrowed.
“Are you a stalker?”
Kyuhyun sighed and shook his head again. This guy really didn’t take any risks, did he?
“No, I’m not a stalker. Let’s just say his best friend liked me as well and then he pushed him away… But now he has someone else. I just wanted to ask you if you know anything about it, please?”
The guy sighed, but finally stepped aside, letting Kyuhyun into the apartment. Kyuhyun could barely compress a shudder as he remembered the first time he’d entered the apartment. He’d been with Zhou Mi then, and he couldn’t help but to think of Sungmin, which had caused him to double over and throw up… Right on the spot where the apartment’s current inhabitant was standing.
“My name is Jungsoo by the way, but you can call me Leeteuk if you want to.”
“Okay… Leeteuk-sshi,” Kyuhyun said, his voice just a little bit weaker than before. Leeteuk frowned.
“You look a bit pale. You okay?” he asked, and Kyuhyun nodded. What else could he possibly say? He had a feeling ‘I was just thinking of the first time I entered this place, which led me think of my boyfriend and beaten up and I think I might be sick’ might not be so popular.
Ten minutes later, Kyuhyun found himself sitting at Leeteuk’s kitchen table with a cup of coffee and Leeteuk in front of him. Leeteuk had also gone to kick his sleepy boyfriend, Siwon, from bed, so now the two of them were watching him curiously.
“You got this apartment from Lee Sungmin, am I right?” Kyuhyun began.
Leeteuk nodded, Siwon smiled.
“He was one adorable little thing,” he said, but turned to look at Leeteuk as the other elbowed him. Kyuhyun just smiled.
“Yeah. He’s really adorable. However… do you have any idea what happened to him after that?” Kyuhyun asked.
“Oh, I know!” Leeteuk grinned. “He moved to Seoul. I think he’s hiring an apartment from my cousin’s girlfriend’s best friend or something like that… Ryeo… Ryeowook, was that his name, Siwon?”
“Yeah, I think so,” Siwon agreed. Kyuhyun groaned and dropped his head to the table.
“Seoul… I’ll never find him there,” he muttered, half to himself. “Adorable idiot.”
Leeteuk and Siwon laughed.
“Don’t worry. If you want to, we can help you find him.”
Kyuhyun lifted his head so quickly he was afraid he might get a whiplash.
“Really?” he said, and he could feel how wide his eyes were. Leeteuk grinned and nodded.
“I’ll call my cousin and ask him if I can get ask his girlfriend and see if I can get her to give me Ryeowook’s number.”
“I… you… Thank you!” he breathed, wide grin on his lips. “I’ll write my phone number down for you and you’ll call me and tell me how it’s going, yes?”
When Kyuhyun left fifteen minutes later, he thought the sun was shining a bit brighter. He had originally planned to go back home, but that plan quickly changed to just wandering around when he opened the door and was met with a loud ‘fuck, Henry, yes’. He was a little surprised the neighbors hadn’t complained yet, to tell the truth.
~~
“You know,” Sungmin said one day, about a week after he’d told Jongwoon and Ryeowook about his past, “I’ve felt like I’ve been watched for some while now. It isn’t scary though, really.”
Jongwoon’s only sign of having heard him was the way he raised his eyebrows, but he continued to cuddle with his turtle. Ryeowook and Sungmin said nothing; they were used to it, anyway.
“How long is ‘a while’?” Ryeowook asked, not looking up from whatever delicious-smelling food he was cooking.
“Um… A year?” Sungmin guessed. This time, Ryeowook did turn around from whatever he was cooking to stare at Sungmin, and Jongwoon even put his turtle down (on the kitchen table, but Sungmin knew Jongwoon would yell at him if he said anything about it) to be able to stare him down properly.
“Why didn’t you say something? What if you’ve gotten yourself a stalker who’s just waiting for a chance to rape you or something!” Ryeowook scolded, reminding Sungmin very much of a tiny mother (possibly housewife) with his hands on his hips, mixer in one hand.
“I didn’t get a bad feeling from it!” Sungmin defended himself, flinching a little from Jongwoon’s gaze. Never had the man looked so directly, not to mention sternly at him. To tell the truth, it was a little intimidating.
Ryeowook sighed and was about to say something, but was interrupted by Sungmin’s phone. Sungmin, glad for an excuse to get out of the kitchen, grabbed his phone and escaped the room.
“Yeobeoseyo?”
~~
Kyuhyun could’ve fainted. After two and a half years, he’d finally mustered up the courage to call Sungmin.
Leeteuk had managed to get him a photo of Ryeowook and which area of Seoul he lived in, but Ryeowook seemed to be the kind of person who brought out the protectiveness in everyone so his friend didn’t want to give his phone numbers to strangers.
However, he’d found him. Sure, it had taken him about half a year, but he’d found him. Then he’d only needed to follow Ryeowook and he’d found Sungmin as well.
His original plan had been to walk up to Sungmin and invite him out on a date, but when he saw him he kind of chickened out, and resorted to watching him instead. He hung out a lot with Ryeowook and another guy Kyuhyun hadn’t known the name of until yesterday - Jongwoon, who was a total weirdo. However, Kyuhyun owed him because it was Jongwoon who’d given him Sungmin’s phone-number and now he was finally speaking to him. Well, kind of.
“Hello? Who’s this?” Sungmin asked as there was no reply to his greeting.
“Hyung,” Kyuhyun whispered, unable to get anything else past his lips. There was a pause, then…
“Kyuhyun?!” Sungmin shrieked, and Kyuhyun had to pull the earpiece away from his ear not to go deaf.
“Yes, it’s me, hyung,” he replied, suddenly a lot calmer. There was another pause, longer this time. Kyuhyun was content with the silence, as long as Sungmin didn’t hang up on him… Or so he thought, until he heard sob.
“Hyung, are you crying?” he asked, worried.
“Yes!” Sungmin replied. “I’m crying, you asshole, because I’m so fucking happy!”
“Oh.”
Kyuhyun gave Sungmin some time to gather himself, but then he half wished he hadn’t as Sungmin immediately bombarded him with questions.
“How are you? How come you called? Isn’t Zhou Mi there? Oh my God, I missed you!”
“Shit hyung, one thing at the time, okay?” Kyuhyun chuckled. “I’m fine, actually. I called because, well… I finally found your phone number, duh. And Zhou Mi is… Probably in bed with Henry. I missed you too, hyung, so fucking much you wouldn’t believe it.”
“… Who’s Henry?”
“Mimi’s new boyfriend. They met a year ago.”
“And you haven’t called me yet?!”
“I’m sorry, okay? But you were kind of difficult to track… Hey, is it okay if I come by your apartment?”
“Of course. Oh my God, I can’t wait to see you again!”
~~
As soon as they heard ‘Kyuhyun?!’ leave Sungmin’s mouth, Ryeowook and Jongwoon froze. Ryeowook stared at Jongwoon, who stared back (his turtle, forgotten, was crawling around on the table), and mouthed ‘how could it possibly be Kyuhyun?’. Jongwoon shrugged and chose not to say anything about his meeting with the other yesterday.
Five minutes later, Sungmin bounced into the kitchen. It was obvious he’d been crying, but he was smiling so wide Ryeowook was afraid his face might split and, well, he was bouncing.
“Kyuhyun will be here soon,” he announced in a sing-song voice. “Ah, I can’t wait for you to meet him!”
Ryeowook was about to say something, but was interrupted for a second time - this time by the doorbell, not Sungmin’s phone. Sungmin took a few deep breaths, did his best to hide his smile (which was pretty obvious anyway) and then went out to open the door, but because he was trying not to bounce, his walking became kind of stiff. Jongwoon half-suppressed a snort and Ryeowook only just managed not to giggle.
As the door opened, Sungmin froze on the spot. Kyuhyun looked… more or less the same. A little bit more tired, a bit more mature, but he was the same Kyuhyun, no doubt.
Sungmin stared. Kyuhyun stared back. Then, slowly, a smile spread on Sungmin’s lips.
“Kyu-ah,” he whispered. Kyuhyun smiled back and opened his arms for Sungmin to step into. Ryeowook and Jongwoon reached the hallway just as Sungmin took a step forward and Kyuhyun pulled him into a hug.
“Yah,” Sungmin said, but he was giggling as his fist connected with Kyuhyun’s chest. “You’ve gotten taller than me.”
Kyuhyun chuckled, but didn’t say anything. Everything was silent for a few minutes, until Sungmin pulled away from Kyuhyun just enough to be able to turn to Ryeowook and Jongwoon, who were watching the couple with smiles on their faces.
“Ryeowook, Jongwoon - this is Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun, this is Ryeowook and Jongwoon, my best friends,” he introduced the three to each other. Kyuhyun bowed slightly.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Pleasure’s all ours!” Ryeowook sing-songed. “Anyone hungry?”
“Ryeowook isn’t only my best friend and landlord, but also more or less my cook…” Sungmin told Kyuhyun, who laughed. “And just so you know, Jongwoon is rather weird. He has turtles.”
“Okay…”
“Yep,” Jongwoon confirmed, following Ryeowook into the kitchen, “and one of them is about to fall off the table.”
As Ryeowook heard the last part, he managed to spin around and graciously catch mentioned turtle mid-air.
“Woah,” Jongwoon said, though he didn’t sound particularly overwhelmed or even remotely impressed. “Thanks Wookie.”
“They’re a couple as well,” Sungmin explained to Kyuhyun, who nodded and smiled, careful not to touch the surface of the table as he sat down.
“I’ve heard turtles can spread diseases. Is that true?” he cautiously asked. Sungmin giggled but didn’t say anything as he quickly got out a rag and some alcohol and started cleaning off the table. Jongwoon ignored him altogether as he cuddled with his turtle and Ryeowook hummed something rather absentmindedly.
“Jongwoonie, you can go put your turtle in his tank, dinner will be ready any second. And wash your hands!” Ryeowook shouted after his boyfriend as Jongwoon stood up and exited the kitchen to put his turtle in the tank Sungmin owned for the sole purpose of Jongwoon’s turtles’ convenience. He sighed as Jongwoon, as per usual, showed no sign of having heard him. Kyuhyun chuckled.
“He’s a bit, um, odd, isn’t he?”
“A bit? I think ‘crazily abnormal’ wouldn’t be enough,” Sungmin giggled. Ryeowook rolled his eyes, although he was smiling.
“Odd but loveable,” he corrected them.
“Whatever,” Sungmin said, waving his hand.
Ryeowook’s flow of questions for Kyuhyun during dinner seemed never-ending.
“So when’s your birthday? Minnie only told us how old you are, and guess what? You’re the youngest in here.”
“Really?” Kyuhyun asked, smiling. “You look a lot younger. Jongwoon-hyung too. And my birthday is on the third of February.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you call anyone ‘hyung’ before,” Sungmin said, one eyebrow raised. “Except me.”
Kyuhyun smiled, but then he sighed.
“We’ll need to talk about it sooner or later, you know,” he said in a low voice. “I’ve spent two years pretending you don’t exist and I just… I can’t pretend it never happened, okay?”
“I know,” Sungmin mumbled back, his eyes wider than ever. “I can’t either.”
The rest of dinner was consumed in silence, Kyuhyun and Sungmin mostly thinking of what to say and Jongwoon and Ryeowook trying to give the recently re-united couple some space to think. When everyone were finished, Ryeowook started doing the dishes without a word. Jongwoon hopped up on the counter next to him, humming a random tune and swinging his legs.
“Stay,” Sungmin suddenly said. “While we talk.”
“You want me and Jongwoon to stay while you and Kyuhyun-sshi talk?” Ryeowook clarified.
“Yes. As moral support, or… or something.”
Ryeowook turned around, smiling at Sungmin.
“If it’s okay with Kyuhyun-sshi,” he said as he shifted his gaze to the youngest. Kyuhyun gave him a small smile.
“No need to be formal. Ming’s friends are my friends, and if he wants you to stay… you’ll stay.”
“If only Jongwoon was a bit more like you…” Ryeowook sighed, earning a smack on the back of his head from Jongwoon and a laugh from Kyuhyun and Sungmin (rather embarrassed on Kyuhyun’s part).
“Trust me, you don’t want Jongwoon to be like Kyu,” Sungmin said. “Kyu’s a total nerd and unless I physically drag him away from it, he’ll sit by the computer all day.”
Ryeowook laughed whole-heartedly at that as he returned to the dishes.
Half an hour later, they were all gathered in the living room; Ryeowook in Jongwoon’s lap in the only armchair and Kyuhyun and Sungmin right next to each other.
“Zhou Mi-hyu-“ Kyuhyun interrupted himself. “Zhou Mi is dangerous.”
“I figured,” Sungmin muttered under his breath, not looking at Kyuhyun.
“He has no natural barriers when it comes to anger, no flashing red lights that tell him to stop. I never got him to the point that it could be proven, but I could see it in his eyes. Whenever I mentioned you, no matter how indirect or brief, he… I don’t know.”
Kyuhyun continued to tell his story and it wasn’t long before Sungmin was in tears. The younger made a pause then, to pull the other into his lap, before he continued, now mumbling into Sungmin’s ear. Ryeowook didn’t even know this guy, didn’t know what he’d been like before or what this Zhou Mi-guy was like either, but his eyes filled with tears nonetheless. Even Jongwoon was unusually quiet and concentrated.
When Kyuhyun was finished, everything was silent except for the occasional sniffle from Sungmin.
“How could he do that to you? To us?” Sungmin whispered finally. “I trusted him.”
Kyuhyun remained silent as he put his fingers under Sungmin’s chin, lifting his face so he could kiss him.
“That’s only for you,” he mumbled against Sungmin’s lips when they parted. “I’m all yours, only yours. I did it so you wouldn’t be hurt, you know that right?”
Sungmin sniffled again, but nodded before leaning in to steal another kiss. Ryeowook decided it was time for him and Jongwoon to leave now.
“All mine,” Sungmin sighed into Kyuhyun’s mouth.
~~
The next morning, the two of them were rudely woken up by a series of loud knocking on the door.
“Minniemin, make them go away,” Kyuhyun groaned. “I don’t want visitors this early in the morning.”
“That’d be Wookie,” Sungmin answered through a yawn as he stood up, stretching his body. “And he’s probably come to make us breakfast. Be grateful.”
Kyuhyun couldn’t resist staring at Sungmin’s thighs as the long white shirt the older had worn to bed rode up when he stretched. Sungmin snorted as he noticed his stare.
“Still as pervy as ever, hm? But you’ll have to wait ‘til Wookie and Jongwoon leaves.”
Kyuhyun just smirked as he made himself comfortable on the bed, reveling in the way the sheets smelled of Sungmin.
“Nice ass,” he commented as he watched Sungmin leave the room. The older snorted, but didn’t say anything.
Breakfast was consumed in silence, but neither Jongwoon nor Ryeowook were blind to the heated looks Kyuhyun sent Sungmin’s way; nor to the way Sungmin blushed and refused to meet the younger’s gaze.
“Christ, you two!” Jongwoon burst halfway through the meal. “Just go fuck already.”
Ryeowook blushed, but excused himself along with his boyfriend, leaving Kyuhyun and Sungmin staring at each other across the table. Sungmin was the first to make a move as he stood up, abandoning his half-eating sandwich in favor of rounding the table and straddling Kyuhyun’s lap.
He leaned in to place a soft kiss on Kyuhyun’s lips, a kiss that quickly became rather heated. Sungmin moaned into Kyuhyun’s mouth as the still-familiar taste of Kyuhyun invaded his senses.
“I swear you’ve gotten sexier,” he breathed when they parted. Kyuhyun merely smirked and claimed his lips for another kiss.
However, Kyuhyun stiffened when Sungmin’s hands went up under his shirt. Sungmin pulled away from him, eyebrows furrowed slightly - in worry or in confusion, Kyuhyun was unable to tell.
“Hey,” Sungmin said softly, leaning his forehead against Kyuhyun’s. “We don’t have to do this. I can wait.”
“But I want to do this!” Kyuhyun whimpered, clenching his eyes shut in frustration and therefore missing Sungmin’s smirk.
“Don’t push yourself, baby.”
There was a pause, in which Kyuhyun considered the situation and his feelings, which were very messed up. While a part of him told him this was Zhou Mi trying to get into his pants again and made him withdraw, a part of him (the part in his pants) told him he wanted this very much.
“Okay,” he said finally. “Not now.”
He opened his eyes and his breath hitched as the first thing he saw was Sungmin’s smiling eyes. Because really, Sungmin could smile with his eyes without having moved his lips at all.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “Sure you’re not an angel?”
Sungmin threw his head back and laughed. Kyuhyun’s heart ached at the sound - he’d missed Sungmin so much he almost didn’t dare to believe that this was reality, here and now.
“I missed you so much, Kyun. Come on, let’s cuddle all day,” Sungmin said as he stood up, the smile not leaving his face for one second as he pulled the younger with him to the bedroom, cuddling up as close as possible to him once they’d settled down.
“I missed your scent, your eyes, your smile,” Kyuhyun mumbled suddenly. “How you can pull off the perfect puppy look without even trying, how you seem really innocent but can be a total slut in bed, how you like pink things and totally love anything that is cute. What did I do to deserve you?”
Sungmin giggled.
“I don’t know, but I’m glad you did something. I need you. You’re my knight in shining armor,” he replied, his breath moistening the skin on Kyuhyun’s neck.
Like this they continued back and forth until they eventually fell back asleep, limbs tightly entwined.
~~
Sungmin woke up as he felt lips against his skin; the underside of his jaw, his cheeks, his forehead, his nose and then his lips. He opened his eyes and found himself staring straight into Kyuhyun’s chocolate brown orbs.
“Hm, that’s a nice way to wake up,” he mumbled, his voice raspy with sleep, as he stretched his body as good as possible under Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun grinned down at him.
“It is, isn’t it? It would be better if I wasn’t really hungry.”
Sungmin laughed and pushed at Kyuhyun just enough so he could sit up.
“Time to call Ryeowook?” he suggested, laughing again as Kyuhyun nodded eagerly.
He wished he hadn’t as when Ryeowook answered, he was panting.
“No, Jongwoon, the phone…!” Sungmin heard. “Um, hello?”
“Wookie, what are you doing?”
“Oh!” Ryeowook squeaked and Sungmin scrunched up his nose. Kyuhyun raised his eyebrows at him in question, so he put the phone on loudspeaker, just as Ryeowook squeaked again. “It’s just you. I thought it might be mom or something.”
“And we wouldn’t want that, now would we?” Kyuhyun cut in, obviously startling Ryeowook as the other let out another ‘oh!’.
“No, I’d rather avoid it,” a fourth voice joined the conversation - Jongwoon’s.
“Ha! I was right then,” Sungmin concluded. “Stop assaulting your boyfriend and get your asses over here, Jongwoon.”
Jongwoon chuckled, while Ryeowook offered them an embarrassed sound.
“Okay, we’ll be there in ten minutes,” he promised. “Jongwoon, get off-“
Kyuhyun and Sungmin stared at each other for a moment before they started laughing.
“Judging by the look on your face,” Kyuhyun said when he calmed down, “that’s not very unusual.”
“Jongwoon manages to keep his hands to himself when he’s here,” Sungmin shrugged. “It’s a whole other thing when Wookie’s on the phone.”
Kyuhyun laughed, shaking his head.
“Kinda like you and me, huh?”
“I guess.
Ryeowook kept his word and appeared on Sungmin’s doorstep ten minutes later, a rather grumpy-looking Jongwoon in tow.
“What do you want me to make?” Ryeowook asked, huge smile on his face.
~~
A week later, Sungmin and Kyuhyun had decided that Kyuhyun would move in with Sungmin and were on their way to Zhou Mi and Henry’s place to collect his stuff.
“Are you sure you want to come along?” Kyuhyun asked several times, even as they had nearly reached their destination. Each time, Sungmin would just roll his eyes and not, despite his growing nervousness.
Then suddenly they were there, face to face with an unknown boy Sungmin realized must be Henry.
“Is Zhou Mi home?” Kyuhyun asked, and the boy nodded.
“Wait a sec.” He turned around so he could shout into the apartment; “Mimi-hyung! Kyuhyun is here! And… I’m sorry, what’s your name?”
“Sungmin,” Sungmin mumbled, a bit nervous.
“And Sungmin!”
Zhou Mi appeared in a flash, looking part stressed, part surprised and part excited.
“Oh my God, Minniemin! Long time, no see,” he greeted Sungmin, pulling the other into a hug. Sungmin was stunned. It was as though nothing had ever happened. As if Zhou Mi hadn’t stolen his boyfriend and beat him half to death. It was as if he’d just been away on vacation for a while.
“Yeah,” he managed, though his voice came out somewhat strangled. “Long time no see…”
Kyuhyun managed to get through watching Zhou Mi making hot chocolate before he burst.
“Zhou Mi,” he started, taking a deep breath as the older spun towards him. “You can’t just pretend it never happened.”
Zhou Mi’s eyes darkened and his shoulders stiffened. Sungmin grabbed Kyuhyun’s hand, clenching it in his own. Henry looked from the couple to Zhou Mi and back again, confusion evident in his voice. Then, suddenly, Zhou Mi’s stance turned sad.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry Minniemin.”
“What?” Henry asked. “Tell me, please.”
Zhou Mi sighed and went to sit down next to Henry.
“I’m not… a very good person, Henli.”
“Yes you are!” Henry protested. “You’re the best!”
“I tried to warn you, remember?” Kyuhyun cut in. “You’ll understand why when we’re done telling you our story, okay?”
Henry hesitantly nodded.
“Um, I… Maybe I should start?” Sungmin mumbled, nervous. When both Zhou Mi and Kyuhyun nodded, he began talking.
Throughout their story-telling, from different points of views and each one of them filling in details, there were close to no interruptions. Zhou Mi was a bit surprised that Sungmin had liked Kyuhyun since the first time he saw it, but he quickly decided not to start a fight about it - he was over Kyuhyun now, anyway.
When they were finished, Henry was trembling and his eyes were filled with tears. Sungmin wasn’t sure whether it was from rage or fright or sadness… Then Henry spoke, in Mandarin, and his voice was trembling even more than his body.
Zhou Mi whispered something back, sounding devastated. Henry flew up from his chair, screaming something, and Sungmin realized he was beyond furious. As he continued to scream in Mandarin, Sungmin and Kyuhyun got to witness Zhou Mi crying for the first time. He mumbled something under his breath that to Kyuhyun, who had gotten sporadic Mandarin lessons from the other, the one thing he’d liked with their relationship, sounded like “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Then Henry stormed out from the apartment, slamming the door shut behind him and everything was over. The silence echoed in the apartment, bouncing against the walls and making Sungmin wince.
“I’m sorry,” Zhou Mi finally broke the silence, switching back to Korean. “I really… I don’t know what comes over me sometimes. Feelings just overflow and I… can’t stop.”
Both Kyuhyun and Sungmin nodded and the silence continued to stretch, until a thought struck Sungmin with breathtaking force.
“You haven’t ever thought that you might have… you know… some kind of disorder?” he asked Zhou Mi under his breath, a little scared of how the other would react.
“That makes sense,” Kyuhyun mused. Zhou Mi just stared at them.
“Should I call a shrink or something?” he asked after a few minutes.
“I’d call Henry first if I were you,” Sungmin suggested. “Come on Kyun, we’d better gather your things. Ryeowook and Jongwoon will be here any second.”
Kyuhyun nodded and stood up, motioning for Sungmin to follow him. Zhou Mi stared after them as reality dawned upon him.
First, he’d hurt a person who’d gone through more than necessary already, and hurt him bad. Second, he’d lost two awesome friends. Third, he was probably mental. Fourth… it would be just his luck if he’d lost a boyfriend as well. A boyfriend who hadn’t been forced, but chosen him.
Sungmin and Kyuhyun were finished gathering Kyuhyun’s things rather quickly, and Sungmin called Ryeowook to see where they were.
“They’re right outside, I’ll go help them,” Sungmin told Kyuhyun before he exited the apartment. Kyuhyun sat down, cross-legged, on the floor or what had been the guest room until Henry moved in; then it became Kyuhyun’s room.
“Hyung,” Henry’s voice startled Kyuhyun. “Zhou Mi has something to say.”
Kyuhyun looked up as Zhou Mi walked into the room to stand in front of him. After a few moments in silence, the younger of the two decided to stand up as well. He was nearly as tall as Zhou Mi.
“I’m sorry,” Zhou mi whispered. “I realize what it must’ve felt like… what I must’ve done to you. I’m so sorry Kyuhyun-ah.”
Kyuhyun stared at the older for a few minutes, thinking.
“I hope you realize it’ll take a long time for me to forgive you. Sungmin too. I want you to stop calling me by the nicknames you gave me and I don’t want you to pretend it never happened.”
Zhou Mi looked up at this, eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
“Why not? Wouldn’t that be easier?”
“No, Zhou Mi, it wouldn’t. I’m sick of having to hide my feelings, pretending things never happened. I also want you to apologize to Sungmin and stay on a safe distance from him. Okay?” Kyuhyun continued, just as Sungmin re-entered, Ryeowook and Jongwoon trailing close behind, cardboard boxes in their hands.
Zhou Mi nodded, freezing as he turned around and noticed the three newcomers.
“Oh. Sungmin. I… I’m really sorry for what I did to you.”
Sungmin’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
“And Kyuhyun,” Zhou Mi added, sensing rather than seeing his friend’s anger. “I know it’ll take a while for you to forgive me, if ever, but I just wanted to say… I’m really sorry.”
His voice cracked at the end as his eyes filled with tears again.
“That’s a start,” Sungmin said before he coldly turned his back on his former friend and began helping Ryeowook, Jongwoon and Kyuhyun to pack Kyuhyun’s stuff.
~~
Six months later, life was pretty good for all of them. Hyukjae and Donghae had decided to move up to Seoul as well and were living five minutes away from Kyuhyun and Sungmin. Ryeowook usually cooked dinner for the three couples at Sungmin’s place and Jongwoon always helped him - until the time Kyuhyun caught Jongwoon fucking Ryeowook over the table.
“Oh my fucking God, hyung!” he’d screamed, covering his eyes. “That’s our kitchen table, eww! Keep it in your pants, please!”
Sungmin and Donghae, being as curious as they were, immediately came rushing to see what was happening - and immediately wished they hadn’t. Hyukjae was a bit smarter than that and stayed out of it all until YeWook (Jongwoon had proudly declared, about a week earlier, that his and Ryeowook’s couple name was YeWook. No one dared ask where the fuck he got the ‘ye’ from) were finished. Then he’d calmly demanded the two of them to clean up after themselves, apologize to those who had had their innocence ruined (that would be Sungmin and Donghae, as they’d discovered that Kyuhyun was far from innocent) and Sungmin had banned Jongwoon from being in the kitchen while Ryeowook was cooking.
Kyuhyun had gotten over his fear to be touched, but he and Sungmin still hadn’t had sex. The other four were starting to get rather fed up with it all; the sexual tension that by now was so thick it was nearly palpable, Kyuhyun’s lewd comments and Sungmin’s not-so-discreet gropes.
That problem was solved as the six of them one day decided to have dinner at HyukHae’s place instead of KyuMin’s (Ryeowook was the one who’d come up with the rest of the couple names after Jongwoon declared they had one) and, as YeWook and HyukHae all busied themselves, KyuMin got busy on the couch in the living room.
Ryeowook screamed rather loud when he discovered Sungmin with Kyuhyun’s cock down his throat. Hyukjae, being as cool as he was with scenes like these, calmly pulled him away from the living room and told him to ‘let them have their go at it, they haven’t been laid for years’.
“I think you have semen in your hair,” was the first thing that left Jongwoon’s mouth as KyuMin re-entered the kitchen. Sungmin blushed and rushed to the bathroom.
“Why didn’t you tell me so?!” he hissed at Kyuhyun when he came back. Kyuhyun smirked at him.
“Because you look totally hot with my come all over your face,” was his reply, which made Sungmin blush furiously and the others laugh.
~~
It took yet another six months for Zhou Mi and Henry to move up Seoul and join the group of couples. At first, Zhou Mi was treated somewhat harshly, until Sungmin pointed out that he probably regretted his actions enough and that they shouldn’t make it worse. After that, the only odd thing in the group was that Kyuhyun refused to touch Zhou Mi in any way and Sungmin would rather go to Ryeowook for spazzing than to Zhou Mi.
The dynamics of their group were also rather interesting. Zhou Mi was the diva who’d screech like a newborn baby if he walked in on anyone having sex (which happened rather often), but be totally cool if anyone walked in on him being fucked by Henry; Donghae was the hyper five-year-old trapped in a horny twenty-year-old’s body; Jongwoon was the weirdo and the creep; Sungmin was the one who outwardly seemed most gay, but he was also physically the strongest of the all; Ryeowook was somewhat like their mother; Hyukjae was cool in all situations, except if anyone walked in on him and Donghae; Henry would randomly switch between Korean, Mandarin and English and no one understood fully what he said even if he kept to one language because he just never made sense; Kyuhyun was the smartest and dirtiest of them all, not to mention a game-addict. All in all, they were the perfect group of friends.
That didn’t mean they couldn’t think the others were odd. When Donghae one morning ran into KyuMin’s apartment, shouting “hey guys, guys! We should totally go to Brazil for a week!” everyone stared at him as though he’d said he was an alien (which wasn’t very unlikely, considering we’re talking about Donghae).
“You’re crazy,” KyuMin said at the same time as YeWook said, “That’s actually a good idea,” and Zhou Mi squealed exclaimed, “That’s the best idea you’ve ever had! When are we going?”
Another thing that was special for the eight of them (four Zhou Mi always insisted) was their meals; they’d made a schedule for when they’d eat and where. If anyone couldn’t come, they’d call an hour before (everyone were always disappointed when YeWook couldn’t come because Ryeowook was definitely the best cook).
However, despite KyuMin’s and Henry’s protests, eight tickets to Brazil were booked within a week and they found themselves being pulled into the whirlpool of energy that was Donghae’s Excitement. With capital letters.
~~
Kyuhyun didn’t think Brazil was bad. He rather enjoyed walking along the beaches hand-in-hand with Sungmin and watching the sun set, no matter how cheesy it was.
“You know, Kyuhyun started on one evening like that, when Sungmin had prompted them to sit down in the water. Sungmin had his head leaned against Kyuhyun’s shoulder and Kyuhyun’s arm went around Sungmin’s shoulder - all in all, Kyuhyun felt more peaceful than ever before. “I really love you.”
Sungmin giggled and moved closer yet to Kyuhyun. However that was even possible, Kyuhyun wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t about to protest either.
“I really, really love you too.”
Kyuhyun smiled and turned his head, placing his lips over Sungmin’s for a gentle kiss that made his skin tingle. A small, contended sigh escaped him as they parted.
“I’m only yours,” he mumbled against Sungmin’s lips, feeling them curve into a smile.
“Yeah,” Sungmin sighed happily. “And I’m only yours.”
“Forever and ever,” they chorused, breaking into laughter before joining their lips for another breathtakingly perfect kiss.