Away (6/?)
my apologies for the spamming of my comm; I just had a lot to post >_< but I'll be working on my fbb fic up until the deadline this weekend so that'll be where most of my attention goes for the next few days (& summer work).
Title: Away ; chapter 6
Fandom/Pairing: Super Junior, f(x) ; Heechul/Hankyung
Rating: PG
Summary: Heechul's gotten himself into something tangled, he just knows it. Life away from former expectations was supposed to be easier, but so far things are still just complicated.
Word count: 3,012
A/N: guess what wrote last weekend? well, I had a lot of time in the car (6 HOURS AT LEAST), and even though I don't like Microsoft Word that much, I finished this chapter. and I've also started chapter 7, and I'm about 1/3 through that, and I even did some major planning and got ideas for a spin-off which I can't hint to because it'll reveal way too much. needless to say, I'm really excited and SO HAPPY THAT I UPDATED. all I can hope for is that this chapter is actually worth something OTL
Chapter 6;
Change
~
"Heechul!"
"Heechul-hyung!"
"Hee-oh, you are in here. Donghae, I found him, go eat now! Hey, were you hiding the first time I came in?"
He opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Hankyung, leaning over him, and Heechul almost threw a punch right then and there. Maybe it was just a desired reflex. No, that didn't make sense, why would he want to punch Hankyung in the first place? Then again, he had been dreaming about sharks and how he had to punch them on the nose. So that obviously made Hankyung a shark now. But Heechul kept his hands down, except to rub his eyes.
"Hiding?"
"Huh? What-no. I was sleeping. The light hurts my eyes," he said.
Heechul could tell by the added weight on the edge of the mattress--Hankyung was sitting there now. "Did you sleep well?"
"Hm, yeah, I guess I did. What time is it?"
"Almost noon."
It sounded to him like everyone else was up. Sulli was giggling over something Heechul didn't hear, Donghae and Henry were arguing about something, Victoria seemed to be the culprit responsible for Sulli's laughter, and Kyuhyun was singing. Honestly, he wasn't about to start understanding that kid. "Damn, I slept in. Cool," he sighed. "My parents were so anal about when I had to wake up, bleh."
Hankyung laughed. "Did you like my bed?"
"This is your yours?" he asked, after some hesitation.
"Well, yeah," he said, patting the covers. "You're in my room."
"Shouldn't you be sleeping in here?" asked Heechul.
"I slept in Victoria's room last night. Kyuhyun, too."
Heechul gave a sly expression. "You pay a lot of attention to him, don't you?"
"I do," he answered, simple as that. "I pay a lot of attention to all of them, though. Didn't I mention at some point that I'm kinda raising them?"
"That you did," Heechul left a gap there, wondering if he should bring up the evidence he's gathered about Kyuhyun. The fact that Hankyung let him ride in the front of the car with him throughout most of their ride to Victoria's house, the fact that they share a bed. Or maybe they don't, but they share a room. Heechul was generally curious.
Hankyung hesitated. "Well, there is a perfectly legitimate reason as to why I spend so much time with Kyuhyun."
"I never said that exactly, but go ahead, elaborate."
"I--you see, he just needs someone to support him at a time like this," he struggled.
"You are so eloquent."
"Heechul, the truth is that our family isn't all together yet."
Heechul raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"There's another. We have one more person in the family. She's…she's not with us right now, though."
"So where is she?" he asked. "Are you trying to find her or something?"
"No, no, that's not it. You see, Heechul," Hankyung hung his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "We had to leave her behind. We couldn't bring her with us."
"Then where is she!"
"Calm down--"
"You just told me not too long ago that those kids you're raising were being abused. And now you're telling me that there's some little girl you and the rest decided to leave behind!" He tried to calm down, he did. But the image of a girl like Sulli kept terrorising his mind, giving no rest to his frustration or worries. There was nothing he could do about this, this attachment. So he took a deep breath, nostrils still flaring. "Is her name Krystal?"
"Yes," Hankyung said, head still hung. "How'd you know?"
"Remember the diner? Sulli said she missed 'Krystal'. I'm not stupid, Hankyung."
"We're going to get her back. We are."
"Then when?" Heechul finally stood up from the bed, eyes cold as he glared towards the top of Hankyung's head.
"Soon. Just, I'm going back for her soon, okay?" Hankyung lifted his head, and just then he looked visibly worn out and worried to Heechul. "We couldn't bring her with us because she was in the hospital when it was time to leave. And Donghae and I had already arranged when we were all going to leave, so a delay would have ruined everything. Kyuhyun wasn't happy--neither was Sulli--but none of us were. I couldn't let them stay behind and deal with some kind of mess we'd start if I left with Henry and Donghae."
At this point, he figured that he could, figuratively, forgive Hankyung for leaving this Krystal behind. "How old is she?"
"She's a couple months younger than Sulli."
Heechul's mental image had almost been right. He tried to get himself to relax, breathing evenly as Hankyung stood up from the edge of the bed.
"Does Kyuhyun have some kind of attachment to her or something?" Heechul felt the need to ask.
"Oh, right, I meant to tell you that. They both came from the same orphanage. Krystal and Kyuhyun have known each other for years, they've, I don't know, always been together. He doesn't like being this far away from her when she's hurt," he paused, and the mood shifted. "God, I wish I could have been home when this happened," then he pivoted on his heel, kicking the bedpost. Heechul jumped.
"Gege, what's wrong?"
Both Heechul and Hankyung averted their gazes towards the doorway. There stood Henry, face devoid of any excitement like Heechul had heard echoing up the stairs from his playful argument with Donghae. Hankyung came closer to the teenager, and in Chinese he said what seemed like words of comfort before putting his hands on Henry's shoulders and directing him towards the hall again. Heechul walked over to where Hankyung was, and he gently took hold of his sleeve.
"I'm not going to make you tell me what happened to Krystal and why you couldn't help her. I'm only going to ask that you keep it together and refrain from kicking things. For the sake of Henry and the other kids."
"Sorry," Hankyung nodded. "I can do that."
"And it'd be highly appreciated if you didn't take out those needs on me. I don't want any of that 'Mommy just made Daddy angry' shit if one of them notices," Heechul said, trying to hide a smirk.
Hankyung blinked, face almost completely blank. "I'm more surprised over you calling yourself my wife than you specifically requesting that I not hit you."
Shrugging, Heechul started down the hallway.
"Wait, just one thing," Hankyung reached out, latching on to Heechul's t-shirt. "You don't think I'd actually hurt you, do you?"
Heechul came full circle, facing Hankyung again. Taking his hand, Heechul felt slightly ridiculous, but he knew it was important to be sincere for this. "I was kidding. Don't take things like that seriously, especially from me, Hankyung."
"O-Okay."
"Good. Now, what's for breakfast?" he asked, perking up and letting go of Hankyung.
"You mean lunch."
Heechul waved his hand, nonchalantly. "Same difference."
Hankyung followed after him with a smile on his face. That is, until Sulli's high-pitched scream sent them both bolting towards the kitchen. They heard Victoria's quiet whispers, frantic in her attempt to calm down the youngest, but the attempts were useless. Sulli was completely hysterical, and it was at that moment that Heechul and Hankyung found her huddled in Victoria's arms, wedged in a corner together. Donghae and Henry were nearby, crouched down with them. The boys, too, were trying to help her. There was no sign of Kyuhyun.
"Sulli-yah," Hankyung dropped low, coming closer to the little girl. "Sulli-yah. Jinri, what's wrong? What happened?"
"I was making her lunch and she was sitting over by the window. Then she just screamed and started crying," Victoria started, failing to keep herself composed.
Hankyung nodded, worrying on his bottom lip as he reached out for the younger girl, patting her arm in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. "Jinri, what did you see? What's wrong?"
Heaving, Sulli slowed herself down, wiping at her eyes with Henry's help. "Oppa, I saw Umma outside…" her eyes grew wide again, forming round and wet blobs at the edges. "She isn't going to bring us back, is she?"
Victoria shook her head, pulling Sulli closer. "I didn't hear anyone at the front door. Should I go check?"
"I need to go find Kyuhyun," said Hankyung, nodding to Victoria. Doubt was written all over his features, though. "Does anyone know where he is?"
"The last time I saw him, he was in the backyard or something," Donghae said. Heechul could tell that the teen was trying hard not to break down in front of everyone, that the thought of 'umma' being around wasn't going to terrify him. He was the oldest of the kids, and he needed to be strong, and he couldn't let this catch him off guard. "Victoria, I'll take Sulli."
Hankyung looked nervously at everyone before heading towards the back door.
"I'll go with Victoria." Heechul said, watching Victoria pass Sulli from her arms to Donghae's. Henry seemed to be implied, when Donghae glanced over at the other younger boy, casting a look that Heechul didn't see. The three of them went to a nearby door that took them to a staircase; Heechul guessed that it was the basement. He stood up slowly and followed Victoria to the front door.
She opened the door hesitantly at first. When it was fully open, she took a single step outwards and tried to look normal as she took a quick look around, as if she were checking to see if someone she'd been expecting had come to her front step. There didn't appear to be anyone there, though. Victoria faced Heechul again. "I don't recognize that car there," she said, motioning to a vehicle parked behind Hankyung's. "But other that that, I don't see her."
"You've met her before?"
"No," Victoria shook her head. "I've only seen her in their family photos, so I know what she looks like, at least--"
"Excuse me, young lady."
"Uh," Heechul put his hands on Victoria's shoulders and directed her towards the older gentleman standing only a few feet from her now. Heechul hadn't even seen him approach them. Or maybe he'd been too distracted by Sulli in the back of his mind.
The man drew closer. He was dressed nicely, his hair was styled fashionably, and the more Victoria and Heechul looked at him, the more sophisticated and intimidating he looked. They both did what they could to keep their cool.
"May I have a look around your house?" he asked, eyes on Victoria.
"Um, no, thank you," she said. "What kind of person asks that question in the first place?"
The man chuckled as his eyes spewed an expression that was rather patronizing. Heechul hated that. "I'm sorry, that was terribly rude of me. What I meant to ask first is: have you ever come into contact with a boy named Hankyung?"
Victoria, rather calm for what Heechul expected to come next, replied. "No, sir," she rested her hands against her hips. "I don't know anyone named Hankyung."
He grinned again, inspecting her, and glancing at Heechul as well. Giving a friendly wave, he stepped back from the two of them, walking towards the unfamiliar car parked behind Hankyung's. He leaned down and looked into the passenger's seat, shaking his head. He'd said no other words, but he didn't need to, and Heechul couldn't shake the chills that were starting to run up and down his back.
It was then that Heechul tugged Victoria backwards by her forearm, bringing her back across the threshold. "Come on, let's go," he whispered.
"I think that's her in the car," she whispered back as Heechul closed the door behind them. Victoria was quick to lock it up, including the deadbolt. "I think she was with him."
"She probably saw Hankyung's little escape-mobile and made her driver or whatever he is stop here."
"Gege hasn't met the neighbors yet, so at least if they get asked, they'll say no, too," she breathed a sigh of relief. "And thank goodness his name is Han Geng."
Heechul laughed a little. "Huh?"
"I hate lying," Victoria scrunched up her nose. "And telling them I don't know a boy named Hankyung wasn't exactly a lie. He was born as Han Geng."
"Nice loophole, Vicky," he said. "I'm proud of you."
She covered her smile when she laughed, leading him towards the basement door through the kitchen. When the two of them came down the stairs, Hankyung, Sulli, and Henry were seated on the couch. Donghae and Kyuhyun were quietly seated on the floor, playing rock-paper-scissors. Hankyung had Sulli in his lap, and she seemed halfway into a dream. He kept her close, stroking her hair in like he was comforting her on autopilot.
Hankyung spoke before anyone else could. "We have to leave."
At first, Victoria seemed sullen at his short announcement, but then she nodded. She understood, Heechul figured, just as he understood that even if they told Hankyung that they hadn't come face to face with Lee Yoonhwa, the prospect of anyone looking for him wasn't in their favor.
"You can take my car," Victoria said. "Technically it's mine, but I'm not old enough to drive yet. I'll give my dad a good reason, don't worry."
Hankyung passed Sulli to Henry and stood up. He pulled Victoria into a hug, and she latched onto him reflexively, face buried into his shoulder. "Thank you, Qian." And there was something too final, and too sad about their embrace.
~
They packed their things quickly. Kyuhyun was done first, uneasily wandering around the hallway when there was almost nothing else to do. Heechul leaned out the door, his only bag swinging from his arm as he watched the kid go back and forth. "Yah, play with your game or whatever."
Kyuhyun stopped, deer-in-the-headlights style.
"You're making me dizzy," Heechul said, then turning and walking towards where he assumed Hankyung was. "Done yet?"
Hankyung glanced up from a notebook, a pencil in his hand, and a pensive expression tacked to his face. He nodded and closed it, tucking the pencil into the spiralled wires along its spine. "I was just, I don't know, trying to get things organized."
"There are too many things going on in your head," Heechul added. "I can see the gears turning from here."
"We should probably leave at night, what do you think?"
"You're asking me?"
"Yes, I'm asking you. I'm asking you for help," he said, tucking the book into his bag.
Heechul kept quiet for a second. "Leaving now would probably be a bad idea if you went out to the car first. Just in case she's still around. Waiting until night time could also be a mistake."
"Because she could still be around, and this time it would be dark," Hankyung continued for him. "We need to leave somehow. What about through the neighbors' backyard? You and Victoria could drive the car somewhere else, and then pick us all up from there. And you'd have to take our stuff, or at least most of it."
"Makes enough sense. Don't forget to tell Victoria, then."
"Heechul, I have one question."
"That's what?"
"Did you see her? Was she actually there?"
Pausing, Heechul decided to set his bag down for a moment. "Victoria thinks she saw her in a car. This guy came up to us though asking us if we knew someone named 'Hankyung'. So Victoria told him no," he said.
"She wouldn't be that obvious-and I'm not talking about Victoria."
"Well, it was some middle-aged man. So even if she wouldn't be that obvious, I guess he would be," he shrugged, picking his bag up again and leaving. This time, Kyuhyun was seated on the top of the stairs, his console in hand, instead of bumbling up and down the hall.
~
Hankyung looked back, making sure that everyone was still behind him. And they were: Sulli was still on Donghae's back, and Kyuhyun and Henry were still trekking along behind and in front of their hyung.
Victoria's neighbors, Sungmin and his younger brother, had been completely fine with letting Hankyung and the others walk through their backyard to get to the other side of the street. Heechul agreed to meet Hankyung and the kids at a park, and Victoria had decided it was better if she said goodbye to them at the house.
It all seemed a little extreme to Heechul, but he let it go. He didn't truly understand how much danger there could possibly be, but at the risk of witnessing anymore breakdowns from Donghae, Sulli, or anyone, he decided not to ask. It was better that he didn't understand. He was too involved in them now, so he wasn't quite sure how easy it would be to just walk away from this all. He wasn't sure if he had the ability to simply leave Hankyung behind to clean this mess up alone, either. Because it couldn't be that simple. Heechul was attached, that was a fact.
To think it all started with an attempt to escape from his parents. He only ended up meeting a family of unrelated kids running from their own.
Heechul unlocked the doors as soon as he saw Hankyung, and he felt his heart pounding away inside his chest, like something bad was going to happen. He almost wanted to yell at Hankyung, to tell him to walk faster-no, run. At the same time, Heechul knew how ridiculous he sounded in his own mind.
Hankyung opened the door for Sulli and Donghae first, then letting the other kids slide in after them. It was crowded, of course, but it seemed as if not one of them really cared if Kyuhyun's elbow was in their stomach, or if Sulli was accidentally poking them in the ear. Heechul glanced at Hankyung, and when Hankyung gave him a single nod, lips pressed in a firm line, Heechul calmly pulled from the curb. They locked the doors again.
//
giddy over the fact that I updated this fic and wtf how am I so sure of where this is going, I have never been this sure about a multi-chapter before :O
Title: Away ; chapter 6
Fandom/Pairing: Super Junior, f(x) ; Heechul/Hankyung
Rating: PG
Summary: Heechul's gotten himself into something tangled, he just knows it. Life away from former expectations was supposed to be easier, but so far things are still just complicated.
Word count: 3,012
A/N: guess what wrote last weekend? well, I had a lot of time in the car (6 HOURS AT LEAST), and even though I don't like Microsoft Word that much, I finished this chapter. and I've also started chapter 7, and I'm about 1/3 through that, and I even did some major planning and got ideas for a spin-off which I can't hint to because it'll reveal way too much. needless to say, I'm really excited and SO HAPPY THAT I UPDATED. all I can hope for is that this chapter is actually worth something OTL
Chapter 6;
Change
~
"Heechul!"
"Heechul-hyung!"
"Hee-oh, you are in here. Donghae, I found him, go eat now! Hey, were you hiding the first time I came in?"
He opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Hankyung, leaning over him, and Heechul almost threw a punch right then and there. Maybe it was just a desired reflex. No, that didn't make sense, why would he want to punch Hankyung in the first place? Then again, he had been dreaming about sharks and how he had to punch them on the nose. So that obviously made Hankyung a shark now. But Heechul kept his hands down, except to rub his eyes.
"Hiding?"
"Huh? What-no. I was sleeping. The light hurts my eyes," he said.
Heechul could tell by the added weight on the edge of the mattress--Hankyung was sitting there now. "Did you sleep well?"
"Hm, yeah, I guess I did. What time is it?"
"Almost noon."
It sounded to him like everyone else was up. Sulli was giggling over something Heechul didn't hear, Donghae and Henry were arguing about something, Victoria seemed to be the culprit responsible for Sulli's laughter, and Kyuhyun was singing. Honestly, he wasn't about to start understanding that kid. "Damn, I slept in. Cool," he sighed. "My parents were so anal about when I had to wake up, bleh."
Hankyung laughed. "Did you like my bed?"
"This is your yours?" he asked, after some hesitation.
"Well, yeah," he said, patting the covers. "You're in my room."
"Shouldn't you be sleeping in here?" asked Heechul.
"I slept in Victoria's room last night. Kyuhyun, too."
Heechul gave a sly expression. "You pay a lot of attention to him, don't you?"
"I do," he answered, simple as that. "I pay a lot of attention to all of them, though. Didn't I mention at some point that I'm kinda raising them?"
"That you did," Heechul left a gap there, wondering if he should bring up the evidence he's gathered about Kyuhyun. The fact that Hankyung let him ride in the front of the car with him throughout most of their ride to Victoria's house, the fact that they share a bed. Or maybe they don't, but they share a room. Heechul was generally curious.
Hankyung hesitated. "Well, there is a perfectly legitimate reason as to why I spend so much time with Kyuhyun."
"I never said that exactly, but go ahead, elaborate."
"I--you see, he just needs someone to support him at a time like this," he struggled.
"You are so eloquent."
"Heechul, the truth is that our family isn't all together yet."
Heechul raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"There's another. We have one more person in the family. She's…she's not with us right now, though."
"So where is she?" he asked. "Are you trying to find her or something?"
"No, no, that's not it. You see, Heechul," Hankyung hung his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "We had to leave her behind. We couldn't bring her with us."
"Then where is she!"
"Calm down--"
"You just told me not too long ago that those kids you're raising were being abused. And now you're telling me that there's some little girl you and the rest decided to leave behind!" He tried to calm down, he did. But the image of a girl like Sulli kept terrorising his mind, giving no rest to his frustration or worries. There was nothing he could do about this, this attachment. So he took a deep breath, nostrils still flaring. "Is her name Krystal?"
"Yes," Hankyung said, head still hung. "How'd you know?"
"Remember the diner? Sulli said she missed 'Krystal'. I'm not stupid, Hankyung."
"We're going to get her back. We are."
"Then when?" Heechul finally stood up from the bed, eyes cold as he glared towards the top of Hankyung's head.
"Soon. Just, I'm going back for her soon, okay?" Hankyung lifted his head, and just then he looked visibly worn out and worried to Heechul. "We couldn't bring her with us because she was in the hospital when it was time to leave. And Donghae and I had already arranged when we were all going to leave, so a delay would have ruined everything. Kyuhyun wasn't happy--neither was Sulli--but none of us were. I couldn't let them stay behind and deal with some kind of mess we'd start if I left with Henry and Donghae."
At this point, he figured that he could, figuratively, forgive Hankyung for leaving this Krystal behind. "How old is she?"
"She's a couple months younger than Sulli."
Heechul's mental image had almost been right. He tried to get himself to relax, breathing evenly as Hankyung stood up from the edge of the bed.
"Does Kyuhyun have some kind of attachment to her or something?" Heechul felt the need to ask.
"Oh, right, I meant to tell you that. They both came from the same orphanage. Krystal and Kyuhyun have known each other for years, they've, I don't know, always been together. He doesn't like being this far away from her when she's hurt," he paused, and the mood shifted. "God, I wish I could have been home when this happened," then he pivoted on his heel, kicking the bedpost. Heechul jumped.
"Gege, what's wrong?"
Both Heechul and Hankyung averted their gazes towards the doorway. There stood Henry, face devoid of any excitement like Heechul had heard echoing up the stairs from his playful argument with Donghae. Hankyung came closer to the teenager, and in Chinese he said what seemed like words of comfort before putting his hands on Henry's shoulders and directing him towards the hall again. Heechul walked over to where Hankyung was, and he gently took hold of his sleeve.
"I'm not going to make you tell me what happened to Krystal and why you couldn't help her. I'm only going to ask that you keep it together and refrain from kicking things. For the sake of Henry and the other kids."
"Sorry," Hankyung nodded. "I can do that."
"And it'd be highly appreciated if you didn't take out those needs on me. I don't want any of that 'Mommy just made Daddy angry' shit if one of them notices," Heechul said, trying to hide a smirk.
Hankyung blinked, face almost completely blank. "I'm more surprised over you calling yourself my wife than you specifically requesting that I not hit you."
Shrugging, Heechul started down the hallway.
"Wait, just one thing," Hankyung reached out, latching on to Heechul's t-shirt. "You don't think I'd actually hurt you, do you?"
Heechul came full circle, facing Hankyung again. Taking his hand, Heechul felt slightly ridiculous, but he knew it was important to be sincere for this. "I was kidding. Don't take things like that seriously, especially from me, Hankyung."
"O-Okay."
"Good. Now, what's for breakfast?" he asked, perking up and letting go of Hankyung.
"You mean lunch."
Heechul waved his hand, nonchalantly. "Same difference."
Hankyung followed after him with a smile on his face. That is, until Sulli's high-pitched scream sent them both bolting towards the kitchen. They heard Victoria's quiet whispers, frantic in her attempt to calm down the youngest, but the attempts were useless. Sulli was completely hysterical, and it was at that moment that Heechul and Hankyung found her huddled in Victoria's arms, wedged in a corner together. Donghae and Henry were nearby, crouched down with them. The boys, too, were trying to help her. There was no sign of Kyuhyun.
"Sulli-yah," Hankyung dropped low, coming closer to the little girl. "Sulli-yah. Jinri, what's wrong? What happened?"
"I was making her lunch and she was sitting over by the window. Then she just screamed and started crying," Victoria started, failing to keep herself composed.
Hankyung nodded, worrying on his bottom lip as he reached out for the younger girl, patting her arm in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. "Jinri, what did you see? What's wrong?"
Heaving, Sulli slowed herself down, wiping at her eyes with Henry's help. "Oppa, I saw Umma outside…" her eyes grew wide again, forming round and wet blobs at the edges. "She isn't going to bring us back, is she?"
Victoria shook her head, pulling Sulli closer. "I didn't hear anyone at the front door. Should I go check?"
"I need to go find Kyuhyun," said Hankyung, nodding to Victoria. Doubt was written all over his features, though. "Does anyone know where he is?"
"The last time I saw him, he was in the backyard or something," Donghae said. Heechul could tell that the teen was trying hard not to break down in front of everyone, that the thought of 'umma' being around wasn't going to terrify him. He was the oldest of the kids, and he needed to be strong, and he couldn't let this catch him off guard. "Victoria, I'll take Sulli."
Hankyung looked nervously at everyone before heading towards the back door.
"I'll go with Victoria." Heechul said, watching Victoria pass Sulli from her arms to Donghae's. Henry seemed to be implied, when Donghae glanced over at the other younger boy, casting a look that Heechul didn't see. The three of them went to a nearby door that took them to a staircase; Heechul guessed that it was the basement. He stood up slowly and followed Victoria to the front door.
She opened the door hesitantly at first. When it was fully open, she took a single step outwards and tried to look normal as she took a quick look around, as if she were checking to see if someone she'd been expecting had come to her front step. There didn't appear to be anyone there, though. Victoria faced Heechul again. "I don't recognize that car there," she said, motioning to a vehicle parked behind Hankyung's. "But other that that, I don't see her."
"You've met her before?"
"No," Victoria shook her head. "I've only seen her in their family photos, so I know what she looks like, at least--"
"Excuse me, young lady."
"Uh," Heechul put his hands on Victoria's shoulders and directed her towards the older gentleman standing only a few feet from her now. Heechul hadn't even seen him approach them. Or maybe he'd been too distracted by Sulli in the back of his mind.
The man drew closer. He was dressed nicely, his hair was styled fashionably, and the more Victoria and Heechul looked at him, the more sophisticated and intimidating he looked. They both did what they could to keep their cool.
"May I have a look around your house?" he asked, eyes on Victoria.
"Um, no, thank you," she said. "What kind of person asks that question in the first place?"
The man chuckled as his eyes spewed an expression that was rather patronizing. Heechul hated that. "I'm sorry, that was terribly rude of me. What I meant to ask first is: have you ever come into contact with a boy named Hankyung?"
Victoria, rather calm for what Heechul expected to come next, replied. "No, sir," she rested her hands against her hips. "I don't know anyone named Hankyung."
He grinned again, inspecting her, and glancing at Heechul as well. Giving a friendly wave, he stepped back from the two of them, walking towards the unfamiliar car parked behind Hankyung's. He leaned down and looked into the passenger's seat, shaking his head. He'd said no other words, but he didn't need to, and Heechul couldn't shake the chills that were starting to run up and down his back.
It was then that Heechul tugged Victoria backwards by her forearm, bringing her back across the threshold. "Come on, let's go," he whispered.
"I think that's her in the car," she whispered back as Heechul closed the door behind them. Victoria was quick to lock it up, including the deadbolt. "I think she was with him."
"She probably saw Hankyung's little escape-mobile and made her driver or whatever he is stop here."
"Gege hasn't met the neighbors yet, so at least if they get asked, they'll say no, too," she breathed a sigh of relief. "And thank goodness his name is Han Geng."
Heechul laughed a little. "Huh?"
"I hate lying," Victoria scrunched up her nose. "And telling them I don't know a boy named Hankyung wasn't exactly a lie. He was born as Han Geng."
"Nice loophole, Vicky," he said. "I'm proud of you."
She covered her smile when she laughed, leading him towards the basement door through the kitchen. When the two of them came down the stairs, Hankyung, Sulli, and Henry were seated on the couch. Donghae and Kyuhyun were quietly seated on the floor, playing rock-paper-scissors. Hankyung had Sulli in his lap, and she seemed halfway into a dream. He kept her close, stroking her hair in like he was comforting her on autopilot.
Hankyung spoke before anyone else could. "We have to leave."
At first, Victoria seemed sullen at his short announcement, but then she nodded. She understood, Heechul figured, just as he understood that even if they told Hankyung that they hadn't come face to face with Lee Yoonhwa, the prospect of anyone looking for him wasn't in their favor.
"You can take my car," Victoria said. "Technically it's mine, but I'm not old enough to drive yet. I'll give my dad a good reason, don't worry."
Hankyung passed Sulli to Henry and stood up. He pulled Victoria into a hug, and she latched onto him reflexively, face buried into his shoulder. "Thank you, Qian." And there was something too final, and too sad about their embrace.
~
They packed their things quickly. Kyuhyun was done first, uneasily wandering around the hallway when there was almost nothing else to do. Heechul leaned out the door, his only bag swinging from his arm as he watched the kid go back and forth. "Yah, play with your game or whatever."
Kyuhyun stopped, deer-in-the-headlights style.
"You're making me dizzy," Heechul said, then turning and walking towards where he assumed Hankyung was. "Done yet?"
Hankyung glanced up from a notebook, a pencil in his hand, and a pensive expression tacked to his face. He nodded and closed it, tucking the pencil into the spiralled wires along its spine. "I was just, I don't know, trying to get things organized."
"There are too many things going on in your head," Heechul added. "I can see the gears turning from here."
"We should probably leave at night, what do you think?"
"You're asking me?"
"Yes, I'm asking you. I'm asking you for help," he said, tucking the book into his bag.
Heechul kept quiet for a second. "Leaving now would probably be a bad idea if you went out to the car first. Just in case she's still around. Waiting until night time could also be a mistake."
"Because she could still be around, and this time it would be dark," Hankyung continued for him. "We need to leave somehow. What about through the neighbors' backyard? You and Victoria could drive the car somewhere else, and then pick us all up from there. And you'd have to take our stuff, or at least most of it."
"Makes enough sense. Don't forget to tell Victoria, then."
"Heechul, I have one question."
"That's what?"
"Did you see her? Was she actually there?"
Pausing, Heechul decided to set his bag down for a moment. "Victoria thinks she saw her in a car. This guy came up to us though asking us if we knew someone named 'Hankyung'. So Victoria told him no," he said.
"She wouldn't be that obvious-and I'm not talking about Victoria."
"Well, it was some middle-aged man. So even if she wouldn't be that obvious, I guess he would be," he shrugged, picking his bag up again and leaving. This time, Kyuhyun was seated on the top of the stairs, his console in hand, instead of bumbling up and down the hall.
~
Hankyung looked back, making sure that everyone was still behind him. And they were: Sulli was still on Donghae's back, and Kyuhyun and Henry were still trekking along behind and in front of their hyung.
Victoria's neighbors, Sungmin and his younger brother, had been completely fine with letting Hankyung and the others walk through their backyard to get to the other side of the street. Heechul agreed to meet Hankyung and the kids at a park, and Victoria had decided it was better if she said goodbye to them at the house.
It all seemed a little extreme to Heechul, but he let it go. He didn't truly understand how much danger there could possibly be, but at the risk of witnessing anymore breakdowns from Donghae, Sulli, or anyone, he decided not to ask. It was better that he didn't understand. He was too involved in them now, so he wasn't quite sure how easy it would be to just walk away from this all. He wasn't sure if he had the ability to simply leave Hankyung behind to clean this mess up alone, either. Because it couldn't be that simple. Heechul was attached, that was a fact.
To think it all started with an attempt to escape from his parents. He only ended up meeting a family of unrelated kids running from their own.
Heechul unlocked the doors as soon as he saw Hankyung, and he felt his heart pounding away inside his chest, like something bad was going to happen. He almost wanted to yell at Hankyung, to tell him to walk faster-no, run. At the same time, Heechul knew how ridiculous he sounded in his own mind.
Hankyung opened the door for Sulli and Donghae first, then letting the other kids slide in after them. It was crowded, of course, but it seemed as if not one of them really cared if Kyuhyun's elbow was in their stomach, or if Sulli was accidentally poking them in the ear. Heechul glanced at Hankyung, and when Hankyung gave him a single nod, lips pressed in a firm line, Heechul calmly pulled from the curb. They locked the doors again.
//
giddy over the fact that I updated this fic and wtf how am I so sure of where this is going, I have never been this sure about a multi-chapter before :O