Sanctuary - Chapter Ten
Title: Sanctuary
Chapter: 10/?
Authors: renichifreak and yeonah
Fandom: SS501
Pairings: KyuMin, HyunSaeng
Rating: PG-16
Warning:Angst, AU
Summary: In this era, people are bought and sold as though they are cattle. The human life is only worth what one is willing to pay for it. What happens when two such people end up in the possession of two brothers who refuse to follow the very practices they were raised to believe?
A/N: Another roleplay story by us for your enjoyment~! Yes, Unlock is still going XD We’re going back and forth. HyunJoong and JungMin are played by me (yeonah ) and KyuJong and YoungSaeng are played by renichifreak . Credit for the original plot goes to renichifreak and hakkais_shadow ~ <3
HyunJoong was relaxed most of the walk, seemingly in a good mood despite the worries floating around his head. He'd have to talk to KyuJong later...and he knew his brother was not going to like his questions. But it couldn't be avoided.
Whenever they passed by people, he would switch to walking in front of YoungSaeng as he was supposed to, but his expression hardly changed, in it's default state of casual disinterest. He opened the door to their room once they reached it, looking around and rubbing his head slightly before he started to gather his stuff for the lab.
"Put them wherever, as long as you can remember where they are after because I might accidentally bury them." HyunJoong lived in a state of organized chaos. He knew where everything was, but others rarely did.
YoungSaeng hated the looks he got as they walked down the hall. So many filthy looks sent after him simply due to the color of his collar. Looking down as he was supposed to, he was able to hide the anger at the fact that things would apparently never change.
Once they were inside the room, however, he felt some of the tension lift as HyunJoong spoke. Looking around, he placed the bag with his sheets on the chair that he'd curled up in. It was pretty clear that HyunJoong was more the disorganized type.
Looking over at the other man, HyunJoong smiled briefly before snatching up the keys to his lab. "So, up for a little experimenting? You know you don't have to come if you don't want to." He didn't want to take away what little freedom he could give the man while the collar was on.
"I suppose so, as long as I can leave in one piece," YoungSaeng replied, straightening and following HyunJoong. The man probably didn't realize that simply giving him the choice was a huge thing.
"If Joonie can practically taste-test half of what's in there and still run around like a madman, then I think you'll be fine," HyunJoong chuckled before pausing at the door. "Ah...wait a second, I'm forgetting something."
He went back to his desk, searching through the drawers for a moment before pulling out an extra copy of his room key. "Here," he said, holding it out to YoungSaeng. "In case I get carried away in the lab and you decide you've had enough explosions for one day. Or I lock us both out accidentally. It's happened."
YoungSaeng blinked at the key before he slowly accepted it. His master was getting stranger and stranger. "I should expect lots of explosions then?"
"Depends if HyungJoon got into my supplies or not," HyunJoong smiled before heading back out into the hallway, closing and locking the door behind them. He started towards the mini-lab in the basement, adjusting his grip on the books and notes in his hands.
Once in the hallway, YoungSaeng carefully reached out and took the things from HyunJoong's hands. "I may be a pleasure slave, but I'm a slave, nonetheless, meaning that I carry your things for you," YoungSaeng explained quietly.
Blinking, HyunJoong gave a barely audible sigh and relinquished his hold on the books. He'd thought pleasure slaves were excused from that. "All right...” He would have to make sure he never tried to carry anything YoungSaeng would find too heavy. At least the lab wasn't too far. He gave a slightly apologetic smile before continuing to walk.
YoungSaeng seemed to know what HyunJoong was thinking and shrugged. "If you take me out of your room, I'm a simple slave."
"Maybe," was the absentminded response, HyunJoong not saying anything else as they passed by people.
They reached the lab shortly after, fewer people in the corridors of the manor's basement. HyunJoong unlocked the room and let them both in before closing the door.
The room was like his classes, everything clean and organized. Once the door was closed, HyunJoong took the books away from YoungSaeng and went to place them on the counter, waving at the facemasks to one side. "Feel free to grab one of those if you're worried about breathing in anything."
YoungSaeng followed behind HyunJoong until they had reached a door in the basement. Once the door was unlocked, YoungSaeng entered, relinquishing his hold on HyunJoong's books as soon as the door was closed.
Nodding at the offer, he took a mask and placed it on before taking a second and offering it to the older man.
Looking up from his notes to see YoungSaeng offering him a mask, HyunJoong took it with a smile and slipped it on. "Alright...do you think you could get me these chemicals while I'm setting up?" He asked, voice muffled slightly by the mask.
He slid a piece of paper across the counter with different formulas on it, pointing out the names of the chemicals. "They're labeled the same way." He motioned to the cabinet in one wall before starting to set up the burner, clearing the counter around it and making sure everything he was using was clean.
Taking the paper from HyunJoong, YoungSaeng carefully studied the names before walking over to the cabinet and opening it. Looking around, he pulled out each chemical after double-checking that he had the right one after seeing that some were only slightly different.
Once he had them all, he set them on a small tray and carried them over, setting them all down away from the burner, but within HyunJoong's reach.
"Thanks," HyunJoong smiled behind the mask as he turned the burner on. "All we're doing is mixing together some of these and marking down their properties. I'm seeing if I can recreate some liquids and things you'd find in a store..."
Finding two pairs of gloves, he passed one pair to YoungSaeng. "So, let's get started." Once he'd pulled on his gloves, HyunJoong uncorked one of the beakers and carefully measured out the clear liquid inside.
"This is what Joonie thought was water. I honestly don't know how the formula resembles 'H2O' in any way." He chuckled quietly. "Why don't you get the eyedropper? I want to show you something. It's in the drawer over there." He pointed without even looking.
YoungSaeng nodded and slipped the gloves on. "Okay, that doesn't seem too hard," he replied as he continued to watch his master.
When he was asked to retrieve the eyedropper, he turned and walked over to get it before returning to HyunJoong's side, placing it in his hand.
While he waited, HyunJoong carefully added a few things to the beaker, humming a little to himself. Feeling the eyedropper in his hand and thanking YoungSaeng again, HyunJoong glanced at his notes and carefully selected a small vial of another colorless liquid. While the beaker was heating slowly above the burner, he extracted a bit of the liquid from the vial and glanced at YoungSaeng before letting a few drops fall into the colorless mixture.
A thin plume of smoke curled up from the beaker's surface, like dry ice in water, as the drops he'd added turned a delicate magenta, swirling inside the beaker and slowly turning the rest of the liquid the same color.
YoungSaeng watched closely as HyunJoong's face grew serious as he began to scan the notes before him. It was very odd seeing such a serious expression on the man's face, but he supposed that he was glad for it since HyunJoong was working with things that could potentially explode.
He was unable to hide the quick yelp as purple smoke suddenly rose from the beaker, the rest coloring the same hue.
HyunJoong looked at YoungSaeng when the other man yelped, and it was obvious that he was smiling behind the mask by the crinkling of his eyes. "It's supposed to do that, don't worry. Watch..."
After taking a few measurements, dipping a thin strip of paper into the liquid and noting down the colors the small swabs attached turned, he turned the temperature of the burner up slightly. Gradually, the purple in the beaker began to disappear until the liquid was clear again. He figured he might as well start with something that wouldn't blow up.
Changing the mixture a little, he held the eyedropper out to YoungSaeng. "Why don't you fill it with a bit of what's in here..." he tapped the tiny vial he'd drawn liquid from before, "and add about...four drops?"
YoungSaeng couldn't help but be fascinated by the goings-on. Having never gotten very far in school, he never had the chance to learn any of the more complex sciences such as chemistry.
Tilting his head, he took the eyedropper from HyunJoong and did as he was told, filling it with the liquid before holding the dropper above the beaker.
"Nothing bad's gonna happen, right?" YoungSaeng asked slowly.
"As long as you stick to four drops and don't dump the whole thing, we'll be fine," HyunJoong chuckled, shifting a little to let YoungSaeng move closer. All it was going to do was change colors again, though if YoungSaeng added too much they'd have a bit of a smoke problem. Then again, that was what the facemasks were for.
Biting his lip, YoungSaeng continued to look at HyunJoong before he sighed. Turning back toward the beaker, YoungSaeng began with what he was told to do. After four drops, he stepped back, unsure of the reaction his owner was expecting.
The instant the drops hit the surface, a bright blue started to curl into the liquid as smoke lazily curled up from the beaker. It was far brighter than the purple from before, because HyunJoong had only put in 2 drops, and there was a bit more smoke, but that quickly dispersed.
"See, you can get all sorts of colors," HyunJoong chuckled, pulling the small bags of powder out of the corner so YoungSaeng could see the names they were labeled with. "Purple, green, blue, red, yellow, black," he continued, pointing to each of the white powders in turn. "This was one of the very first things they showed us how to do...it's easier to start with colors than explosions. Though the class did need airing out when someone dumped too much of the powder in."
YoungSaeng released a startled laugh, highly amused at the color changing yet again. He looked at what HyunJoong was showing him and nodded, amused. He had to admit that he was having a bit of fun in the lab.
"I'm sure they did, and I'd definitely teach color change first, too."
HyunJoong's eyes crinkled a little more at the laugh, the only sign that he was enjoying himself as well. He took the readings from the new mixture, and let the color fade away into clarity again.
"Why don't you pick a color? I'll show you how to measure it all out."
Time just flew after that. HyunJoong had fun showing YoungSaeng how some of the simpler formulas worked, and the younger man's expression was interesting to watch. There was one slight mishap where too much of a liquid went into the beaker and the resulting poof of smoke was enough to force them both away, but HyunJoong was able to quickly get it under control again, too used to HyungJoon doing much worse.
Finally he looked at the time, then chuckled. "Alright, I think this is enough for today. I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry." He started to dispose of the used materials safely, shutting off the burner and cleaning out the beakers.
YoungSaeng was surprised to find that he was actually having fun in the lab. He was sure that would probably change when HyunJoong moved on to more...explosive experiments, but for now, it was fun.
Nodding and removing the mask, he sneezed a few times due to the remaining smoke in the room, but nothing bad. Watching HyunJoong clean up, YoungSaeng shifted from one foot to the other before asking, "...Anything I can do to help?"
"Hm?" HyunJoong looked up, carefully rinsing out the beakers. "Well...if you can reach the window I guess the room should probably be left to air, but other than that, I've got it." There wasn't much cleanup to do, and HyunJoong liked everything placed back in the right spots.
Nodding, YoungSaeng walked over to the window and, after standing on tiptoes and stretching out, managed to get the window open. Unable to do much else, he returned to the table and began gathering up the books and papers, taking care not to move them out of the order that HyunJoong had arranged them in.
Humming a little to himself, HyunJoong finished cleaning everything and placed all the chemicals and supplies back where they belonged before taking off his mask. "All set?" he asked. The older man moved to pick up his books before he remembered that YoungSaeng was supposed to carry them. "So you can let HyungJoon know that you survived being in here without getting yourself poisoned," he chuckled.
"I suppose I can tell him that, but I'm sure that he'll figure it out when he sees me up and moving," YoungSaeng pointed out. He was slightly surprised that he was feeling so relaxed, but thought that it was only because he'd been learning new things, something that he found interesting.
"Hopefully," HyunJoong laughed, heading for the door once everything was in order. "But now it's time to get dinner ready." Once they'd dropped the books in his room. "Ddeokbokee is one of the few things I can cook," he smiled sheepishly before opening the door to the hallway.
"Well, it doesn't exactly take rocket science to make it, you know," YoungSeng stated before following HyunJoong out, quieting and falling into his proper place since people could walk by at any moment.
"Hey, I feel accomplished when I get it right, don't burst my bubble," HyunJoong murmured with a faint chuckle as he walked in front. The hallways were mostly empty, HyunJoong's mind elsewhere as he headed back towards their room.
Rolling his eyes, YoungSaeng continued to follow HyunJoong through the long hallway. He felt himself tense up as he felt something off, but he didn't know just what it was. Clutching the books and notes tightly, YoungSaeng walked a bit closer to HyunJoong, trying to shake off the feeling.
YoungSaeng watched as HyunJoong walked around the corner and moved to follow when he felt a pair of hands snake around him, one around his waist, and the other covering his mouth, stifling any yelling. Dropping the books in surprise, YoungSaeng began to struggle, especially when he smelled the strong alcohol rolling off the guard.
Out of the corner of his eye, he was able to make out the guard that had dragged him from the truck when he had arrived: the one with the wandering hands.
"Well what do we have here?" the man slurred, alcohol overpowering his common sense. "If it isn't the pretty little slave boy..."
HyunJoong walked a few more steps before the thud of books hitting the ground reached him. Blinking as he turned around, he frowned when he saw YoungSaeng was no longer behind him. "...Saeng?" Looking around, he headed back the direction they had come.
YoungSaeng's eyes narrowed as he continued to struggle, even as the man's hand seemed to continue with what it had started the day before.
'Dammit...' YoungSaeng thought as he was held firmly against he wall.
"Not so tough now, are you?" the guard murmured, slipping his hand beneath YoungSaeng's shirt to rest against his stomach.
Unable to do much since the guy was a lot stronger, plus had alcohol lending him a hand, he did what he'd done earlier and bit the man hard.
Turning the corner in time to catch a pained yell, HyunJoong's eyes widened as he saw what was going on.
Body moving without him, he took advantage of the loosened hold on YoungSaeng to grab the guard by the collar and wretch him away from the younger man, forcing him to look at a very angry HyunJoong. The eldest brother's eyes were hard and dark, his entire expression shifting out of the indifferent mask it usually occupied to reflect his authority and temper.
"And just what do you think you're doing?" His voice had gone from absent-minded and pleasant to sharp and cold.
Once the man was pulled away, YoungSaeng fell to the ground, not realizing that he had for all intents and purposes been held up by the drunkard. His eyes widened as he took in the HyunJoong before him.
The guard swallowed deeply, but was so inebriated that he had lost all common sense. "I wanted a taste of the new little toy in the house," he blurted out.
"...Toy?" HyunJoong's eyes narrowed. "Let me get this straight, and you better pray you remember this in the morning. He is not to be touched. He is mine, and no one other than myself is so much allowed to breathe next to him without my permission. If I hear of you bothering him again, I will personally make sure the next slave shipment has you in it. Do I make myself clear?" His grip on the man's shirt tightened.
The man nodded his head frantically. "Y-yes, Kim sshi. Of course," he stuttered, not knowing what else to say. It was the first time that a pleasure slave of the house had been made untouchable. Even those belonging to others were fair game.
He was so drunk that he had no idea that he had spoken everything aloud.
HyunJoong had to work to control his temper, eyes flashing dangerously. "Well, there's a first time for everything. Make sure all your friends know what'll happen if they go near him, got it?"
He pushed the man away with a look of disgust. "Get out of my sight."
YoungSaeng watched as the man scrambled to his feet and ran away before turning his attention to HyunJoong. The normally absentminded weirdo had been replaced with an intimidating force to be reckoned with, and YoungSaeng even felt himself retract a bit, not yet moving from his spot on the floor.
HyunJoong watched the man run before running his hand across his face with a sigh, a tired look in his eyes for a moment. Then he looked at YoungSaeng and the not-all-there smile was back, a little sheepish. He glanced around the hallway to make sure they were still alone before stepping forward, offering a hand. "You all right?"
YoungSaeng stared at the offered hand for a moment before slowly taking it. Once he was on his feet, he quickly let go and nodded his head. "Believe me when I say that's not the first time that's happened. I've started to get used to it," he explained before gathering up the books he'd dropped.
The older man could only smile as YoungSaeng quickly dropped his hand, the expression turning a little sad once the slave's attention was directed back to the books. By the time YoungSaeng straightened, there was no sign of the anger that had torn from him without warning, HyunJoong rubbing his head a little.
"Well, they shouldn't bother you like that here, so if anyone does let me know. Let's get going, you must be starving by now." He turned and started to walk again.
Tilting his head, YoungSaeng could do little more than nod before he straightened, books secure in his arms. At the reminder of food, YoungSaeng's stomach rumbled, pulling a blush onto his cheeks.
The sound of the rumble behind him drew a smile from HyunJoong as he glanced back at YoungSaeng. "It sounds like someone agrees with me," he chuckled, turning back and continuing to walk.
They reached his room quickly, HyunJoong unlocking it. Once they were inside, he once again took his books from YoungSaeng, placing them back on his desk for the moment. He'd put them all away later. "So, kitchen sound good?"
Following HyunJoong into the room, YoungSaeng allowed the man to take the books before he nodded at the question. "Sure."
Once he was sure everything was in order in their room, HyunJoong stepped back into the hallway and waited for YoungSaeng to do the same before locking the door behind them.
A few minutes later they were in the kitchen, HyunJoong humming to himself as he pulled out everything he would need for Ddeokbokee. "The others will show up soon enough once they smell food." He started to cut up the vegetables.
YoungSaeng watched closely, not sure of what to do. One of the things he hated most was being idle. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked from where he had taken a seat.
"I think I've got it under control," HyunJoong replied, looking back at YoungSaeng (and nearly slicing his finger open by not paying attention). "No one's around to see you not working, so you don't have to."
Sighing, YoungSaeng got up and walked over to the man, taking the knife from HyunJoong before nudging him away with his hip. "I'd prefer my food blood free, thank you very much, and I actually enjoy cooking."
Blinking as he was nudged out of the way by a light tap on his hip, HyunJoong looked at YoungSaeng for a moment before smiling. "All right, all right. Don't say I didn't offer." He started to put together the rest of the ingredients instead, making the sauce and cutting up the rice cakes. "And I haven't put blood into anything yet."
"Yet being the operative word there," YoungSaeng pointed out as he expertly cut the vegetables before moving on to the rest.
"Hey, I'm rather proud of the fact I haven't managed to dismember myself so far," HyunJoong laughed. "Ddeokbokee always works out for me. KyuJong wouldn't let me into the kitchen if I kept bleeding all over the food."
"He does seem rather protective of the kitchen," YoungSaeng mused. "Don't you have cooks here?" he asked, curious. He'd never before had a master who did so much on his own as the three brothers seemed to do.
HyunJoong shrugged. "We do, but for the rest of the people living here. KyuJong and I like doing things by ourselves rather than get others to do it for us...and well, HyungJoon would probably be the same if letting him in here wasn't like asking for the stove to explode." He chuckled. "The cooks always come and go during specific times, so we wait until they're gone before coming here."
YoungSaeng nodded his head at the explanation before setting the knife down and moving on to the next task just as efficiently as he'd done with the vegetables. "He does seem a bit dependent on you two when it comes to cooking."
"The brat can't even make toast without burning his own fingers every single time," the older man laughed. "But other than his two left hands when it comes to cooking, he's pretty independent. We've been showing him how to do things on his own so he isn't always waiting around for someone else to do it for him...though the whole 'cleaning his room' thing still hasn't sunken in yet." Not that HyunJoong was one to talk. That was why KyuJong usually enforced that part of looking after the youngest.
"Your brother seems to like being in control of things like that," YoungSaeng pointed out. "Not in the bad way, of course," he added at the end.
"KyuJong? Yeah...” HyunJoong's smile was a little off. "Yeah, he's like that. Neat freak if you've ever seen one, but we adore him for it." He dropped the rice cakes into the sauce and gathered up the carrots YoungSaeng had finished cutting.
Tilting his head at the odd smile, YoungSaeng shrugged it off as none of his business before backing away to sit at the counter again since there wasn't really anything more for him to do.
HyunJoong glanced back at YoungSaeng as the younger man backed away, sighing inwardly before returning his attention to what he was cooking.
Chapter: 10/?
Authors: renichifreak and yeonah
Fandom: SS501
Pairings: KyuMin, HyunSaeng
Rating: PG-16
Warning:Angst, AU
Summary: In this era, people are bought and sold as though they are cattle. The human life is only worth what one is willing to pay for it. What happens when two such people end up in the possession of two brothers who refuse to follow the very practices they were raised to believe?
A/N: Another roleplay story by us for your enjoyment~! Yes, Unlock is still going XD We’re going back and forth. HyunJoong and JungMin are played by me (yeonah ) and KyuJong and YoungSaeng are played by renichifreak . Credit for the original plot goes to renichifreak and hakkais_shadow ~ <3
HyunJoong was relaxed most of the walk, seemingly in a good mood despite the worries floating around his head. He'd have to talk to KyuJong later...and he knew his brother was not going to like his questions. But it couldn't be avoided.
Whenever they passed by people, he would switch to walking in front of YoungSaeng as he was supposed to, but his expression hardly changed, in it's default state of casual disinterest. He opened the door to their room once they reached it, looking around and rubbing his head slightly before he started to gather his stuff for the lab.
"Put them wherever, as long as you can remember where they are after because I might accidentally bury them." HyunJoong lived in a state of organized chaos. He knew where everything was, but others rarely did.
YoungSaeng hated the looks he got as they walked down the hall. So many filthy looks sent after him simply due to the color of his collar. Looking down as he was supposed to, he was able to hide the anger at the fact that things would apparently never change.
Once they were inside the room, however, he felt some of the tension lift as HyunJoong spoke. Looking around, he placed the bag with his sheets on the chair that he'd curled up in. It was pretty clear that HyunJoong was more the disorganized type.
Looking over at the other man, HyunJoong smiled briefly before snatching up the keys to his lab. "So, up for a little experimenting? You know you don't have to come if you don't want to." He didn't want to take away what little freedom he could give the man while the collar was on.
"I suppose so, as long as I can leave in one piece," YoungSaeng replied, straightening and following HyunJoong. The man probably didn't realize that simply giving him the choice was a huge thing.
"If Joonie can practically taste-test half of what's in there and still run around like a madman, then I think you'll be fine," HyunJoong chuckled before pausing at the door. "Ah...wait a second, I'm forgetting something."
He went back to his desk, searching through the drawers for a moment before pulling out an extra copy of his room key. "Here," he said, holding it out to YoungSaeng. "In case I get carried away in the lab and you decide you've had enough explosions for one day. Or I lock us both out accidentally. It's happened."
YoungSaeng blinked at the key before he slowly accepted it. His master was getting stranger and stranger. "I should expect lots of explosions then?"
"Depends if HyungJoon got into my supplies or not," HyunJoong smiled before heading back out into the hallway, closing and locking the door behind them. He started towards the mini-lab in the basement, adjusting his grip on the books and notes in his hands.
Once in the hallway, YoungSaeng carefully reached out and took the things from HyunJoong's hands. "I may be a pleasure slave, but I'm a slave, nonetheless, meaning that I carry your things for you," YoungSaeng explained quietly.
Blinking, HyunJoong gave a barely audible sigh and relinquished his hold on the books. He'd thought pleasure slaves were excused from that. "All right...” He would have to make sure he never tried to carry anything YoungSaeng would find too heavy. At least the lab wasn't too far. He gave a slightly apologetic smile before continuing to walk.
YoungSaeng seemed to know what HyunJoong was thinking and shrugged. "If you take me out of your room, I'm a simple slave."
"Maybe," was the absentminded response, HyunJoong not saying anything else as they passed by people.
They reached the lab shortly after, fewer people in the corridors of the manor's basement. HyunJoong unlocked the room and let them both in before closing the door.
The room was like his classes, everything clean and organized. Once the door was closed, HyunJoong took the books away from YoungSaeng and went to place them on the counter, waving at the facemasks to one side. "Feel free to grab one of those if you're worried about breathing in anything."
YoungSaeng followed behind HyunJoong until they had reached a door in the basement. Once the door was unlocked, YoungSaeng entered, relinquishing his hold on HyunJoong's books as soon as the door was closed.
Nodding at the offer, he took a mask and placed it on before taking a second and offering it to the older man.
Looking up from his notes to see YoungSaeng offering him a mask, HyunJoong took it with a smile and slipped it on. "Alright...do you think you could get me these chemicals while I'm setting up?" He asked, voice muffled slightly by the mask.
He slid a piece of paper across the counter with different formulas on it, pointing out the names of the chemicals. "They're labeled the same way." He motioned to the cabinet in one wall before starting to set up the burner, clearing the counter around it and making sure everything he was using was clean.
Taking the paper from HyunJoong, YoungSaeng carefully studied the names before walking over to the cabinet and opening it. Looking around, he pulled out each chemical after double-checking that he had the right one after seeing that some were only slightly different.
Once he had them all, he set them on a small tray and carried them over, setting them all down away from the burner, but within HyunJoong's reach.
"Thanks," HyunJoong smiled behind the mask as he turned the burner on. "All we're doing is mixing together some of these and marking down their properties. I'm seeing if I can recreate some liquids and things you'd find in a store..."
Finding two pairs of gloves, he passed one pair to YoungSaeng. "So, let's get started." Once he'd pulled on his gloves, HyunJoong uncorked one of the beakers and carefully measured out the clear liquid inside.
"This is what Joonie thought was water. I honestly don't know how the formula resembles 'H2O' in any way." He chuckled quietly. "Why don't you get the eyedropper? I want to show you something. It's in the drawer over there." He pointed without even looking.
YoungSaeng nodded and slipped the gloves on. "Okay, that doesn't seem too hard," he replied as he continued to watch his master.
When he was asked to retrieve the eyedropper, he turned and walked over to get it before returning to HyunJoong's side, placing it in his hand.
While he waited, HyunJoong carefully added a few things to the beaker, humming a little to himself. Feeling the eyedropper in his hand and thanking YoungSaeng again, HyunJoong glanced at his notes and carefully selected a small vial of another colorless liquid. While the beaker was heating slowly above the burner, he extracted a bit of the liquid from the vial and glanced at YoungSaeng before letting a few drops fall into the colorless mixture.
A thin plume of smoke curled up from the beaker's surface, like dry ice in water, as the drops he'd added turned a delicate magenta, swirling inside the beaker and slowly turning the rest of the liquid the same color.
YoungSaeng watched closely as HyunJoong's face grew serious as he began to scan the notes before him. It was very odd seeing such a serious expression on the man's face, but he supposed that he was glad for it since HyunJoong was working with things that could potentially explode.
He was unable to hide the quick yelp as purple smoke suddenly rose from the beaker, the rest coloring the same hue.
HyunJoong looked at YoungSaeng when the other man yelped, and it was obvious that he was smiling behind the mask by the crinkling of his eyes. "It's supposed to do that, don't worry. Watch..."
After taking a few measurements, dipping a thin strip of paper into the liquid and noting down the colors the small swabs attached turned, he turned the temperature of the burner up slightly. Gradually, the purple in the beaker began to disappear until the liquid was clear again. He figured he might as well start with something that wouldn't blow up.
Changing the mixture a little, he held the eyedropper out to YoungSaeng. "Why don't you fill it with a bit of what's in here..." he tapped the tiny vial he'd drawn liquid from before, "and add about...four drops?"
YoungSaeng couldn't help but be fascinated by the goings-on. Having never gotten very far in school, he never had the chance to learn any of the more complex sciences such as chemistry.
Tilting his head, he took the eyedropper from HyunJoong and did as he was told, filling it with the liquid before holding the dropper above the beaker.
"Nothing bad's gonna happen, right?" YoungSaeng asked slowly.
"As long as you stick to four drops and don't dump the whole thing, we'll be fine," HyunJoong chuckled, shifting a little to let YoungSaeng move closer. All it was going to do was change colors again, though if YoungSaeng added too much they'd have a bit of a smoke problem. Then again, that was what the facemasks were for.
Biting his lip, YoungSaeng continued to look at HyunJoong before he sighed. Turning back toward the beaker, YoungSaeng began with what he was told to do. After four drops, he stepped back, unsure of the reaction his owner was expecting.
The instant the drops hit the surface, a bright blue started to curl into the liquid as smoke lazily curled up from the beaker. It was far brighter than the purple from before, because HyunJoong had only put in 2 drops, and there was a bit more smoke, but that quickly dispersed.
"See, you can get all sorts of colors," HyunJoong chuckled, pulling the small bags of powder out of the corner so YoungSaeng could see the names they were labeled with. "Purple, green, blue, red, yellow, black," he continued, pointing to each of the white powders in turn. "This was one of the very first things they showed us how to do...it's easier to start with colors than explosions. Though the class did need airing out when someone dumped too much of the powder in."
YoungSaeng released a startled laugh, highly amused at the color changing yet again. He looked at what HyunJoong was showing him and nodded, amused. He had to admit that he was having a bit of fun in the lab.
"I'm sure they did, and I'd definitely teach color change first, too."
HyunJoong's eyes crinkled a little more at the laugh, the only sign that he was enjoying himself as well. He took the readings from the new mixture, and let the color fade away into clarity again.
"Why don't you pick a color? I'll show you how to measure it all out."
Time just flew after that. HyunJoong had fun showing YoungSaeng how some of the simpler formulas worked, and the younger man's expression was interesting to watch. There was one slight mishap where too much of a liquid went into the beaker and the resulting poof of smoke was enough to force them both away, but HyunJoong was able to quickly get it under control again, too used to HyungJoon doing much worse.
Finally he looked at the time, then chuckled. "Alright, I think this is enough for today. I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry." He started to dispose of the used materials safely, shutting off the burner and cleaning out the beakers.
YoungSaeng was surprised to find that he was actually having fun in the lab. He was sure that would probably change when HyunJoong moved on to more...explosive experiments, but for now, it was fun.
Nodding and removing the mask, he sneezed a few times due to the remaining smoke in the room, but nothing bad. Watching HyunJoong clean up, YoungSaeng shifted from one foot to the other before asking, "...Anything I can do to help?"
"Hm?" HyunJoong looked up, carefully rinsing out the beakers. "Well...if you can reach the window I guess the room should probably be left to air, but other than that, I've got it." There wasn't much cleanup to do, and HyunJoong liked everything placed back in the right spots.
Nodding, YoungSaeng walked over to the window and, after standing on tiptoes and stretching out, managed to get the window open. Unable to do much else, he returned to the table and began gathering up the books and papers, taking care not to move them out of the order that HyunJoong had arranged them in.
Humming a little to himself, HyunJoong finished cleaning everything and placed all the chemicals and supplies back where they belonged before taking off his mask. "All set?" he asked. The older man moved to pick up his books before he remembered that YoungSaeng was supposed to carry them. "So you can let HyungJoon know that you survived being in here without getting yourself poisoned," he chuckled.
"I suppose I can tell him that, but I'm sure that he'll figure it out when he sees me up and moving," YoungSaeng pointed out. He was slightly surprised that he was feeling so relaxed, but thought that it was only because he'd been learning new things, something that he found interesting.
"Hopefully," HyunJoong laughed, heading for the door once everything was in order. "But now it's time to get dinner ready." Once they'd dropped the books in his room. "Ddeokbokee is one of the few things I can cook," he smiled sheepishly before opening the door to the hallway.
"Well, it doesn't exactly take rocket science to make it, you know," YoungSeng stated before following HyunJoong out, quieting and falling into his proper place since people could walk by at any moment.
"Hey, I feel accomplished when I get it right, don't burst my bubble," HyunJoong murmured with a faint chuckle as he walked in front. The hallways were mostly empty, HyunJoong's mind elsewhere as he headed back towards their room.
Rolling his eyes, YoungSaeng continued to follow HyunJoong through the long hallway. He felt himself tense up as he felt something off, but he didn't know just what it was. Clutching the books and notes tightly, YoungSaeng walked a bit closer to HyunJoong, trying to shake off the feeling.
YoungSaeng watched as HyunJoong walked around the corner and moved to follow when he felt a pair of hands snake around him, one around his waist, and the other covering his mouth, stifling any yelling. Dropping the books in surprise, YoungSaeng began to struggle, especially when he smelled the strong alcohol rolling off the guard.
Out of the corner of his eye, he was able to make out the guard that had dragged him from the truck when he had arrived: the one with the wandering hands.
"Well what do we have here?" the man slurred, alcohol overpowering his common sense. "If it isn't the pretty little slave boy..."
HyunJoong walked a few more steps before the thud of books hitting the ground reached him. Blinking as he turned around, he frowned when he saw YoungSaeng was no longer behind him. "...Saeng?" Looking around, he headed back the direction they had come.
YoungSaeng's eyes narrowed as he continued to struggle, even as the man's hand seemed to continue with what it had started the day before.
'Dammit...' YoungSaeng thought as he was held firmly against he wall.
"Not so tough now, are you?" the guard murmured, slipping his hand beneath YoungSaeng's shirt to rest against his stomach.
Unable to do much since the guy was a lot stronger, plus had alcohol lending him a hand, he did what he'd done earlier and bit the man hard.
Turning the corner in time to catch a pained yell, HyunJoong's eyes widened as he saw what was going on.
Body moving without him, he took advantage of the loosened hold on YoungSaeng to grab the guard by the collar and wretch him away from the younger man, forcing him to look at a very angry HyunJoong. The eldest brother's eyes were hard and dark, his entire expression shifting out of the indifferent mask it usually occupied to reflect his authority and temper.
"And just what do you think you're doing?" His voice had gone from absent-minded and pleasant to sharp and cold.
Once the man was pulled away, YoungSaeng fell to the ground, not realizing that he had for all intents and purposes been held up by the drunkard. His eyes widened as he took in the HyunJoong before him.
The guard swallowed deeply, but was so inebriated that he had lost all common sense. "I wanted a taste of the new little toy in the house," he blurted out.
"...Toy?" HyunJoong's eyes narrowed. "Let me get this straight, and you better pray you remember this in the morning. He is not to be touched. He is mine, and no one other than myself is so much allowed to breathe next to him without my permission. If I hear of you bothering him again, I will personally make sure the next slave shipment has you in it. Do I make myself clear?" His grip on the man's shirt tightened.
The man nodded his head frantically. "Y-yes, Kim sshi. Of course," he stuttered, not knowing what else to say. It was the first time that a pleasure slave of the house had been made untouchable. Even those belonging to others were fair game.
He was so drunk that he had no idea that he had spoken everything aloud.
HyunJoong had to work to control his temper, eyes flashing dangerously. "Well, there's a first time for everything. Make sure all your friends know what'll happen if they go near him, got it?"
He pushed the man away with a look of disgust. "Get out of my sight."
YoungSaeng watched as the man scrambled to his feet and ran away before turning his attention to HyunJoong. The normally absentminded weirdo had been replaced with an intimidating force to be reckoned with, and YoungSaeng even felt himself retract a bit, not yet moving from his spot on the floor.
HyunJoong watched the man run before running his hand across his face with a sigh, a tired look in his eyes for a moment. Then he looked at YoungSaeng and the not-all-there smile was back, a little sheepish. He glanced around the hallway to make sure they were still alone before stepping forward, offering a hand. "You all right?"
YoungSaeng stared at the offered hand for a moment before slowly taking it. Once he was on his feet, he quickly let go and nodded his head. "Believe me when I say that's not the first time that's happened. I've started to get used to it," he explained before gathering up the books he'd dropped.
The older man could only smile as YoungSaeng quickly dropped his hand, the expression turning a little sad once the slave's attention was directed back to the books. By the time YoungSaeng straightened, there was no sign of the anger that had torn from him without warning, HyunJoong rubbing his head a little.
"Well, they shouldn't bother you like that here, so if anyone does let me know. Let's get going, you must be starving by now." He turned and started to walk again.
Tilting his head, YoungSaeng could do little more than nod before he straightened, books secure in his arms. At the reminder of food, YoungSaeng's stomach rumbled, pulling a blush onto his cheeks.
The sound of the rumble behind him drew a smile from HyunJoong as he glanced back at YoungSaeng. "It sounds like someone agrees with me," he chuckled, turning back and continuing to walk.
They reached his room quickly, HyunJoong unlocking it. Once they were inside, he once again took his books from YoungSaeng, placing them back on his desk for the moment. He'd put them all away later. "So, kitchen sound good?"
Following HyunJoong into the room, YoungSaeng allowed the man to take the books before he nodded at the question. "Sure."
Once he was sure everything was in order in their room, HyunJoong stepped back into the hallway and waited for YoungSaeng to do the same before locking the door behind them.
A few minutes later they were in the kitchen, HyunJoong humming to himself as he pulled out everything he would need for Ddeokbokee. "The others will show up soon enough once they smell food." He started to cut up the vegetables.
YoungSaeng watched closely, not sure of what to do. One of the things he hated most was being idle. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked from where he had taken a seat.
"I think I've got it under control," HyunJoong replied, looking back at YoungSaeng (and nearly slicing his finger open by not paying attention). "No one's around to see you not working, so you don't have to."
Sighing, YoungSaeng got up and walked over to the man, taking the knife from HyunJoong before nudging him away with his hip. "I'd prefer my food blood free, thank you very much, and I actually enjoy cooking."
Blinking as he was nudged out of the way by a light tap on his hip, HyunJoong looked at YoungSaeng for a moment before smiling. "All right, all right. Don't say I didn't offer." He started to put together the rest of the ingredients instead, making the sauce and cutting up the rice cakes. "And I haven't put blood into anything yet."
"Yet being the operative word there," YoungSaeng pointed out as he expertly cut the vegetables before moving on to the rest.
"Hey, I'm rather proud of the fact I haven't managed to dismember myself so far," HyunJoong laughed. "Ddeokbokee always works out for me. KyuJong wouldn't let me into the kitchen if I kept bleeding all over the food."
"He does seem rather protective of the kitchen," YoungSaeng mused. "Don't you have cooks here?" he asked, curious. He'd never before had a master who did so much on his own as the three brothers seemed to do.
HyunJoong shrugged. "We do, but for the rest of the people living here. KyuJong and I like doing things by ourselves rather than get others to do it for us...and well, HyungJoon would probably be the same if letting him in here wasn't like asking for the stove to explode." He chuckled. "The cooks always come and go during specific times, so we wait until they're gone before coming here."
YoungSaeng nodded his head at the explanation before setting the knife down and moving on to the next task just as efficiently as he'd done with the vegetables. "He does seem a bit dependent on you two when it comes to cooking."
"The brat can't even make toast without burning his own fingers every single time," the older man laughed. "But other than his two left hands when it comes to cooking, he's pretty independent. We've been showing him how to do things on his own so he isn't always waiting around for someone else to do it for him...though the whole 'cleaning his room' thing still hasn't sunken in yet." Not that HyunJoong was one to talk. That was why KyuJong usually enforced that part of looking after the youngest.
"Your brother seems to like being in control of things like that," YoungSaeng pointed out. "Not in the bad way, of course," he added at the end.
"KyuJong? Yeah...” HyunJoong's smile was a little off. "Yeah, he's like that. Neat freak if you've ever seen one, but we adore him for it." He dropped the rice cakes into the sauce and gathered up the carrots YoungSaeng had finished cutting.
Tilting his head at the odd smile, YoungSaeng shrugged it off as none of his business before backing away to sit at the counter again since there wasn't really anything more for him to do.
HyunJoong glanced back at YoungSaeng as the younger man backed away, sighing inwardly before returning his attention to what he was cooking.