façade 07
Title: Façade [multi-chapter]
Chapter: 7/???
Rating: M (swearing, violence, adult themes e.g. drugs, prostitution etc.)
Main pairing: Henber (Henry/Amber)
Side/ninja this chapter: Eunhae (Eunhyuk/Donghae), JongKey (Jonghyun/Key), 2min (Minho/Taemin), Henmin-friendship (Henry/Sungmin)
Siblings/related: Donghae/Amber/Jonghyun, Heechul/Sulli/Taemin
Summary: gang!AU Amber is part of a gang and Henry is a music student. They meet by accident and Henry learns that they live in two very different worlds.
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
A/N: just a little fyi: In terms of appearances (in my head), SJ is in their Mr Simple era (blond Hyuk is a good indication), Amber is in her LaChaTa days (age wise, she’s closer to her current age), Henry is his Perfection/current days and SHINee is in their RDD/Love Like Oxygen days. The rest of f(x) are roughly their current days too, but age may vary because of their different situations (e.g. Luna is approximately aged six, so her appearance is closer to her LaChaTa days)
Hyukjae jumped to his feet, the adrenaline keeping him going, his shallow breaths shaky and inconsistent as he surveyed the other. A moment passed before the other approached and he ducked as a leg flew over his head. He threw out a leg to trip the other, but he was too slow and the other dodged it easily, making Hyukjae roll as he dodged another kick. He rose again, beginning to feel lightheaded as he struggled to breathe properly.
Hangeng smiled before he straightened and bowed, signalling the end of their session. Hyukjae took a deep breath, and practically collapsed to the ground, the adrenaline draining from his body.
“Good work, Hyukjae, you learn very fast,” Hangeng said, patting the younger on the shoulder. “You’ll be able to do field work soon,” the blond managed a nod and Hangeng left to get him some water.
A head poked around the door frame.
“Are you done, Hyukjae?” the brunette asked and the blond looked up to see Donghae smiling at him with bright eyes. He nodded. Donghae grinned.
Donghae crouched beside him, pushing the blond fringe out of his eyes. “How’re you doing? Your lungs aren’t that strong yet,” he mused and Hyukjae couldn’t help staring.
“Here, water,” Hangeng arrived at that moment and Hyukjae took the cup from him, emptying it within seconds. He still felt lightheaded though.
He groaned and fell onto his back, eyes staring at the ceiling. Hangeng just laughed, murmured something to Donghae and then left.
Hyukjae was in the middle of debating whether or not the crack on the roof meant that he was going to be buried by plaster any time soon when Donghae’s head popped up above him.
“So what do you want to do now?” he asked brightly, eyes shining like a child.
“Uhm, I don’t know,” the blond returned, blinking rapidly. Donghae chuckled.
“How about we go check on our troops?” the brunette suggested and winked. Hyukjae was too busy trying to calm his pounding heart to protest as Donghae pulled him up and dragged him outside.
-x-
Amber stared blankly as she watched a lean, tall figure dash through the court, the basketball pounding rhythmically against the cement. One leg was crossed, resting on the branch, and the other hung limply off her ankle. The leaves rustled around her.
What was wrong with her? She thought, watching the figure shoot neatly into the hoop, his teammates cheering loudly.
She shook her head. More like what was wrong with that kid, she thought bitterly, thinking of the curious eyes and chubby cheeks.
After hearing the composition, which was good, she had to admit, the violin, piano and Sungmin’s voice melding together to form an emotive piece, she had reminded Sungmin to see her the next day and promptly left, ignoring the confusion and stares from the two guys. She was not staying in a room with the idiot who was appearing in her life too much to be a coincidence.
Amber sighed, before hearing a chuckle below. She looked down and saw her brother and the blond who had been accompanying him lately. She rolled her eyes and groaned.
“Why are you sitting in a tree like a love-sick teenager?” Donghae teased and Amber flipped him off. He just laughed more, the exhausted looking blond beside him silent.
“For our mission tomorrow,” Amber answered, turning back to look at the figure on the basketball court. He was still playing with his friends, and although Amber was annoyed at her brother’s interruption, she was thankful for the break. There was only so much boredom she could take.
The blond had turned pale and was gripping Donghae’s hand tightly and murmuring something to him. Donghae frowned, his brows furrowing before he turned to Amber, plastering a smile on his face again, even though she had been watching the whole time.
“Alright, we’ll leave so you keep your hiding place. Just remember to report to us after,” Donghae said, waving. Amber nodded, noticing the quickened pace of her brother as he hurried away with the blond in tow. She ignored it, rolling her eyes as she turned back to the target. Suddenly she sat up straight.
Someone was talking to their target. And not just anyone.
“Shit,” she breathed, dropping out of the tree and breaking out into a run. This was not meant to happen.
-x-
Jonghyun smirked as they approached the tall male who was glaring at them. His friends had left minutes before and he had seen them approaching him from quite a fair distance away.
“You’re the kid who’s been following me,” was the first thing the tall male said, glaring at the younger male beside Jonghyun.
Taemin flinched, trying to move away, but the tall male was fast, his arm reaching out and grabbing the front of Taemin’s shirt, yanking him closer.
Jonghyun recognised danger even before it was staring at him straight in the face. He placed a hand gently on the arm of the male, and shot Taemin a glance.
The youngest was wide-eyed and frightened, possibly a little paler than before.
“Minho-shi, right?” Jonghyun said and the male diverted his attention to him.
“Who are you?” Minho said, eyes narrowed, watching the three before him. One was confident, grinning at him, the other behind him was blond and so far silent, but held a certain aura that spoke of danger, and the third, young one, was timid and frightened.
“Someone offering you help,” Jonghyun said, still grinning.
“Is she part of your crew?” Minho asked, nodding behind Jonghyun.
The ‘lasagne’ haired male turned, confused, only to shout out when he was tackled to the ground.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”
Jonghyun stared straight into the eyes of Amber and just laughed.
“You’re a little late, Amber,” he chuckled. Amber opened her mouth to say more but caught the movement in the corner of her eye and rolled off Jonghyun to dodge the kick that Key had sent flying her way.
She hissed as her palms grazed against the asphalt, glaring as Key helped Jonghyun up.
“I take it she’s not part of your group,” Minho spoke up and they all turned to him. He was still holding Taemin who was now deathly pale, his trembling hands helplessly trying to loosen the grip on him.
“No, I’m not,” Amber said, standing up and walking over to them, eyeing the two who stood to the side, “and although it would actually be beneficial to me, you might want to drop him, unless you want him to have a heart attack,” she said, nodding at Taemin who looked like he was about to faint.
Minho took one glance at the pale face before dropping Taemin, who fell to the ground shakily taking deep breaths, while Key tried to comfort him.
“So who are all of you?” Minho said, still cautious.
“We’re rivals,” Jonghyun grinned.
“We have different beliefs,” Amber corrected, eyes narrowed.
“Why am I part of this?” he asked before either could continue.
“We’ve been watching you because we want to help you,” Amber said, turning to him. He tried to speak, but she cut him off, “because we believe we can help you.”
“I need help?” Minho scoffed, staring at her in mock shock. Amber stared at him blankly and even Jonghyun raised an eyebrow.
“We believe so,” Amber said, voice emotionless. He stood, horrified, as she continued. “Choi Minho, age 20, studying dance here. Parents divorced, father an alcoholic, mother deceased. Resorted to drugs at the age of 15, currently taking - ”
“Don’t - ” Minho cut himself off, fists clenched tightly
Amber was silent, watching him calmly, and Jonghyun started grinning again.
“So, you evidently do need help, Minho-shi,” Amber finally concluded.
“Except they think they can get you into a normal family,” Jonghyun drawled and Amber turned to glare at him.
“A normal family?” Minho asked, sceptically. Amber hissed.
“This is not the way it was meant to be presented to you,” Amber growled, sighing before steadying herself.
“We aim to help kids on the streets return to a normal life,” she said, carefully, glaring when Jonghyun scoffed.
“Because it’s possible,” he said, sarcastically.
“It is!” Amber insisted, turning to Minho, “We have been successful, several times,”
“Because you’re just the perfect example,” Jonghyun smirked. Key chuckled behind him as Taemin stood shakily to his feet. Amber scowled.
“Regardless,” Minho spoke up and they all turned to him, the argument forgotten. “Why should I join a group? A gang? I’m doing perfectly fine on my own,”
This time Jonghyun scoffed. “Really? From what I know, last night you were running from the police because they found your hide-out,” Minho visibly stiffened.
Amber frowned. This wasn’t going according to plan. She bit her lip; she never was good at the whole persuading thing; it was usually done by Hangeng or Donghae.
“So, do you really believe you can return to a normal family?” Key asked, staring intently at Minho who looked back, unflinching.
It was the ultimatum. Amber managed to keep her voice steady even though she knew the outcome. “We want to give you a second chance,” she said.
Minho looked at his feet, a thousand thoughts evidently running through his head.
“I can’t go back, even if I deserve another chance,” he said softly and Jonghyun grinned. He was victorious.
Key snickered as all four now turned to Amber. She cursed under her breath.
“So, what are you going to do now, Amber?” Jonghyun sneered, taking a step forward. Key followed, but Minho and Taemin stayed where they were.
“Don’t underestimate me, Jonghyun,” she hissed, eyes narrowed as she leapt forward, her fist raised.
-x-
It was nearly sunset and the campus was emptying itself of students. Henry and Sungmin had remained in the soundproof room, practicing,
“Hey Henry, did you finish the composition?” Sungmin asked as Henry packed away his violin.
Henry groaned. “Yeah I did and I handed it in, but the professor was disappointed,” he sighed, closing the lid of his case.
“Let me guess, he figured out that you wrote it in about 20 minutes without thinking it through properly?” Sungmin chuckled and Henry blushed.
“Don’t take being a genius composer for granted,” the older sang, opening the door.
The two left moments later and wandered through the empty school.
Sungmin was saying something about performing at the end of year concert when Henry suddenly stopped him.
“Hey Sungmin, is that a fight?” he said, walking towards the window, squinting to peer out.
“Where?” Sungmin asked from beside him, his face pressed against the glass as well.
“The basketball court,” Henry’s voice was muffled, but Sungmin heard it and when he glanced that way, his eyes widened, fear flowing through him.
“Oh no,” he whispered, taking a step back from the glass as he recognised the small figure on the courts.
Henry caught the ‘Amber’ that escaped Sungmin’s lips before the older was gone, dashing through the school with Henry stumbling after him.
A/N: eh. A lot of dialogue :/ but hopefully it moved forward some more :3 So yeah, basically, Heechul + his gang try to get kids off the streets :)
Hopefully that’s clear enough DX
Next chapter will be all action-y! (it’s gonna suck because I can’t write action for my life OTL)
Chapter: 7/???
Rating: M (swearing, violence, adult themes e.g. drugs, prostitution etc.)
Main pairing: Henber (Henry/Amber)
Side/ninja this chapter: Eunhae (Eunhyuk/Donghae), JongKey (Jonghyun/Key), 2min (Minho/Taemin), Henmin-friendship (Henry/Sungmin)
Siblings/related: Donghae/Amber/Jonghyun, Heechul/Sulli/Taemin
Summary: gang!AU Amber is part of a gang and Henry is a music student. They meet by accident and Henry learns that they live in two very different worlds.
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
A/N: just a little fyi: In terms of appearances (in my head), SJ is in their Mr Simple era (blond Hyuk is a good indication), Amber is in her LaChaTa days (age wise, she’s closer to her current age), Henry is his Perfection/current days and SHINee is in their RDD/Love Like Oxygen days. The rest of f(x) are roughly their current days too, but age may vary because of their different situations (e.g. Luna is approximately aged six, so her appearance is closer to her LaChaTa days)
Hyukjae jumped to his feet, the adrenaline keeping him going, his shallow breaths shaky and inconsistent as he surveyed the other. A moment passed before the other approached and he ducked as a leg flew over his head. He threw out a leg to trip the other, but he was too slow and the other dodged it easily, making Hyukjae roll as he dodged another kick. He rose again, beginning to feel lightheaded as he struggled to breathe properly.
Hangeng smiled before he straightened and bowed, signalling the end of their session. Hyukjae took a deep breath, and practically collapsed to the ground, the adrenaline draining from his body.
“Good work, Hyukjae, you learn very fast,” Hangeng said, patting the younger on the shoulder. “You’ll be able to do field work soon,” the blond managed a nod and Hangeng left to get him some water.
A head poked around the door frame.
“Are you done, Hyukjae?” the brunette asked and the blond looked up to see Donghae smiling at him with bright eyes. He nodded. Donghae grinned.
Donghae crouched beside him, pushing the blond fringe out of his eyes. “How’re you doing? Your lungs aren’t that strong yet,” he mused and Hyukjae couldn’t help staring.
“Here, water,” Hangeng arrived at that moment and Hyukjae took the cup from him, emptying it within seconds. He still felt lightheaded though.
He groaned and fell onto his back, eyes staring at the ceiling. Hangeng just laughed, murmured something to Donghae and then left.
Hyukjae was in the middle of debating whether or not the crack on the roof meant that he was going to be buried by plaster any time soon when Donghae’s head popped up above him.
“So what do you want to do now?” he asked brightly, eyes shining like a child.
“Uhm, I don’t know,” the blond returned, blinking rapidly. Donghae chuckled.
“How about we go check on our troops?” the brunette suggested and winked. Hyukjae was too busy trying to calm his pounding heart to protest as Donghae pulled him up and dragged him outside.
-x-
Amber stared blankly as she watched a lean, tall figure dash through the court, the basketball pounding rhythmically against the cement. One leg was crossed, resting on the branch, and the other hung limply off her ankle. The leaves rustled around her.
What was wrong with her? She thought, watching the figure shoot neatly into the hoop, his teammates cheering loudly.
She shook her head. More like what was wrong with that kid, she thought bitterly, thinking of the curious eyes and chubby cheeks.
After hearing the composition, which was good, she had to admit, the violin, piano and Sungmin’s voice melding together to form an emotive piece, she had reminded Sungmin to see her the next day and promptly left, ignoring the confusion and stares from the two guys. She was not staying in a room with the idiot who was appearing in her life too much to be a coincidence.
Amber sighed, before hearing a chuckle below. She looked down and saw her brother and the blond who had been accompanying him lately. She rolled her eyes and groaned.
“Why are you sitting in a tree like a love-sick teenager?” Donghae teased and Amber flipped him off. He just laughed more, the exhausted looking blond beside him silent.
“For our mission tomorrow,” Amber answered, turning back to look at the figure on the basketball court. He was still playing with his friends, and although Amber was annoyed at her brother’s interruption, she was thankful for the break. There was only so much boredom she could take.
The blond had turned pale and was gripping Donghae’s hand tightly and murmuring something to him. Donghae frowned, his brows furrowing before he turned to Amber, plastering a smile on his face again, even though she had been watching the whole time.
“Alright, we’ll leave so you keep your hiding place. Just remember to report to us after,” Donghae said, waving. Amber nodded, noticing the quickened pace of her brother as he hurried away with the blond in tow. She ignored it, rolling her eyes as she turned back to the target. Suddenly she sat up straight.
Someone was talking to their target. And not just anyone.
“Shit,” she breathed, dropping out of the tree and breaking out into a run. This was not meant to happen.
-x-
Jonghyun smirked as they approached the tall male who was glaring at them. His friends had left minutes before and he had seen them approaching him from quite a fair distance away.
“You’re the kid who’s been following me,” was the first thing the tall male said, glaring at the younger male beside Jonghyun.
Taemin flinched, trying to move away, but the tall male was fast, his arm reaching out and grabbing the front of Taemin’s shirt, yanking him closer.
Jonghyun recognised danger even before it was staring at him straight in the face. He placed a hand gently on the arm of the male, and shot Taemin a glance.
The youngest was wide-eyed and frightened, possibly a little paler than before.
“Minho-shi, right?” Jonghyun said and the male diverted his attention to him.
“Who are you?” Minho said, eyes narrowed, watching the three before him. One was confident, grinning at him, the other behind him was blond and so far silent, but held a certain aura that spoke of danger, and the third, young one, was timid and frightened.
“Someone offering you help,” Jonghyun said, still grinning.
“Is she part of your crew?” Minho asked, nodding behind Jonghyun.
The ‘lasagne’ haired male turned, confused, only to shout out when he was tackled to the ground.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”
Jonghyun stared straight into the eyes of Amber and just laughed.
“You’re a little late, Amber,” he chuckled. Amber opened her mouth to say more but caught the movement in the corner of her eye and rolled off Jonghyun to dodge the kick that Key had sent flying her way.
She hissed as her palms grazed against the asphalt, glaring as Key helped Jonghyun up.
“I take it she’s not part of your group,” Minho spoke up and they all turned to him. He was still holding Taemin who was now deathly pale, his trembling hands helplessly trying to loosen the grip on him.
“No, I’m not,” Amber said, standing up and walking over to them, eyeing the two who stood to the side, “and although it would actually be beneficial to me, you might want to drop him, unless you want him to have a heart attack,” she said, nodding at Taemin who looked like he was about to faint.
Minho took one glance at the pale face before dropping Taemin, who fell to the ground shakily taking deep breaths, while Key tried to comfort him.
“So who are all of you?” Minho said, still cautious.
“We’re rivals,” Jonghyun grinned.
“We have different beliefs,” Amber corrected, eyes narrowed.
“Why am I part of this?” he asked before either could continue.
“We’ve been watching you because we want to help you,” Amber said, turning to him. He tried to speak, but she cut him off, “because we believe we can help you.”
“I need help?” Minho scoffed, staring at her in mock shock. Amber stared at him blankly and even Jonghyun raised an eyebrow.
“We believe so,” Amber said, voice emotionless. He stood, horrified, as she continued. “Choi Minho, age 20, studying dance here. Parents divorced, father an alcoholic, mother deceased. Resorted to drugs at the age of 15, currently taking - ”
“Don’t - ” Minho cut himself off, fists clenched tightly
Amber was silent, watching him calmly, and Jonghyun started grinning again.
“So, you evidently do need help, Minho-shi,” Amber finally concluded.
“Except they think they can get you into a normal family,” Jonghyun drawled and Amber turned to glare at him.
“A normal family?” Minho asked, sceptically. Amber hissed.
“This is not the way it was meant to be presented to you,” Amber growled, sighing before steadying herself.
“We aim to help kids on the streets return to a normal life,” she said, carefully, glaring when Jonghyun scoffed.
“Because it’s possible,” he said, sarcastically.
“It is!” Amber insisted, turning to Minho, “We have been successful, several times,”
“Because you’re just the perfect example,” Jonghyun smirked. Key chuckled behind him as Taemin stood shakily to his feet. Amber scowled.
“Regardless,” Minho spoke up and they all turned to him, the argument forgotten. “Why should I join a group? A gang? I’m doing perfectly fine on my own,”
This time Jonghyun scoffed. “Really? From what I know, last night you were running from the police because they found your hide-out,” Minho visibly stiffened.
Amber frowned. This wasn’t going according to plan. She bit her lip; she never was good at the whole persuading thing; it was usually done by Hangeng or Donghae.
“So, do you really believe you can return to a normal family?” Key asked, staring intently at Minho who looked back, unflinching.
It was the ultimatum. Amber managed to keep her voice steady even though she knew the outcome. “We want to give you a second chance,” she said.
Minho looked at his feet, a thousand thoughts evidently running through his head.
“I can’t go back, even if I deserve another chance,” he said softly and Jonghyun grinned. He was victorious.
Key snickered as all four now turned to Amber. She cursed under her breath.
“So, what are you going to do now, Amber?” Jonghyun sneered, taking a step forward. Key followed, but Minho and Taemin stayed where they were.
“Don’t underestimate me, Jonghyun,” she hissed, eyes narrowed as she leapt forward, her fist raised.
-x-
It was nearly sunset and the campus was emptying itself of students. Henry and Sungmin had remained in the soundproof room, practicing,
“Hey Henry, did you finish the composition?” Sungmin asked as Henry packed away his violin.
Henry groaned. “Yeah I did and I handed it in, but the professor was disappointed,” he sighed, closing the lid of his case.
“Let me guess, he figured out that you wrote it in about 20 minutes without thinking it through properly?” Sungmin chuckled and Henry blushed.
“Don’t take being a genius composer for granted,” the older sang, opening the door.
The two left moments later and wandered through the empty school.
Sungmin was saying something about performing at the end of year concert when Henry suddenly stopped him.
“Hey Sungmin, is that a fight?” he said, walking towards the window, squinting to peer out.
“Where?” Sungmin asked from beside him, his face pressed against the glass as well.
“The basketball court,” Henry’s voice was muffled, but Sungmin heard it and when he glanced that way, his eyes widened, fear flowing through him.
“Oh no,” he whispered, taking a step back from the glass as he recognised the small figure on the courts.
Henry caught the ‘Amber’ that escaped Sungmin’s lips before the older was gone, dashing through the school with Henry stumbling after him.
A/N: eh. A lot of dialogue :/ but hopefully it moved forward some more :3 So yeah, basically, Heechul + his gang try to get kids off the streets :)
Hopefully that’s clear enough DX
Next chapter will be all action-y! (it’s gonna suck because I can’t write action for my life OTL)