[Super Junior] Drinking Games, PG-13, Humor/Romance, CinHae
For taylormercury! Happy birthday, Mica! I hope I threw you off when I asked you about ShiHan. Truthfully, I was going to write you some ShiHae (though it had ShiHan interactions), but then I got struck with this brilliant idea instead. I was so proud of myself, haha. I love this idea and I finally wrote movie!verse and eee. CinHae (even though the movie was full of epic gay KangChul and KiHae, I know). :D I hope you like it! ♥ (As a note: movie!personalities, for Heechul is less of a bitch IRL and Donghae is...more of a spacecase.)
Drinking Games
Super Junior - movie!verse, CinHae, PG-13, 4000 words
Donghae is always the one Heechul calls when he's drunk.
Drinking Games
by meitachi
“No! No, no, no,” Heechul exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. “You’re doing it all wrong. Oh, this is why I hate girls.” He glared at Yuri theatrically and put his hands on his hips, shaking his head until his hair whipped around his face.
Yuri glared right back. “Look, just because you can’t dance...” She had lost her idol crush on Heechul within a very short time of joining the dance group and now the two of them were butting heads every practice.
“Here,” Heechul sighed dramatically. “Let me show you. For the fifteenth time. Try to pay attention this time, okay? I don’t have that much time to waste, showing you over and over again.”
“Oh, please, do show me.”
Donghae leaned against the mirror of the practice room and watched the two of them snarl at each other. Heechul performed the section of the dance routine that he’d been complaining about, the part he’d choreographed. It involved a twist of the shoulders and a bit of leaning forward, then back, and Donghae had never quite seen anything quite so girly, but Heechul was adamant about keeping it in the routine.
Yuri watched Heechul skeptically and said, “That’s exactly what I was doing!”
Heechul turned on her again and then they were arguing again, Heechul’s hands on her shoulders as he tried to physically demonstrate. Donghae yawned, ran a hand through his hair, and pulled out his iPod. “Just let me know when you’re ready to move on,” he told the unhearing couple, because he’d already mastered the entire routine in the past week while the other two had been shouting at each other. He put his earphones in and closed his eyes, bobbing his head to the music.
--
“I don’t know how you put up with such a girly, melodramatic princess like that,” Kibum said, slowly spinning his desk chair around to face Donghae, who was sprawled unapologetically across Kibum’s bed. “And I don’t mean Yuri-sshi.”
Donghae only shrugged and grinned. “I’ve known Heechul forever. I’m used to it.”
Kibum looked at him evenly from behind his glasses. “You’re surprisingly tolerant when it comes to him.”
Donghae raised an eyebrow. “Kibummie, I’m surprisingly tolerant about everything.” His mouth quirked. “Should I remind you about a certain friend committing certain unspeakable crimes?” He laughed outright when Kibum flushed. Rolling over, he hugged one of Kibum’s pillows to his chest and stared up at the ceiling in consideration. “It’s no big deal. Like I said, we’ve known each other forever. I’ve seen him at his worst, believe me.”
Kibum didn’t say anything, only looked at him thoughtfully.
“Stop trying to analyze me, you nerd!” The pillow arced through the air at Kibum’s head.
--
“Kangin is such a stupid jerkface,” Heechul declared loudly into Donghae’s ear, pitching forward as he stumbled.
Donghae grabbed his waist and hauled him upright again, adjusting the arm Heechul had slung across Donghae’s shoulders. “Yeah, yeah, I know.” He wrinkled his nose at the smell of alcohol on Heechul’s breath. “And yet you go drinking with him once a week.”
“Well,” sputtered Heechul. “Well, someone has to remind him how dumb he is.” Heechul’s words were still loud, and his hair was all over the place, escaping from his ponytail and brushing against the side of Donghae’s face. It blurred into the darkness of the night, stark contrast to the pale light of Heechul’s face.
Donghae blinked. “You’re so drunk,” he sighed.
“Mm, that’s true,” Heechul agreed. He stumbled again, falling heavily into Donghae’s side and eliciting a muttered curse. “But I drank that stupid musclehead who thinks he knows judo under the table.” He smirked, pleased with himself.
Donghae only shook his head. “You’re just lucky you don’t get hangovers. You’re a bitch enough as it is. I can’t imagine what you’d be like with a killer headache on top of all that.” He laughed as Heechul made an affronted noise, turning an outraged expression to Donghae. “Shut up, Heechul, I’m dragging you home. You don’t get to bitch at people who haul you back from your drunken revelries every time.”
Heechul huffed and snarled, but he didn’t try to pull away from Donghae. Instead he crooked the arm around Donghae’s shoulders and hooked it around Donghae’s neck. “I am a bitch,” he mused, sounding pleased. “I’m the best ever. You’re so lucky to be my friend.”
“Yeah, lucky.” Donghae laughed at him again, but he pulled away slightly. His eyes flickered to the ground briefly, shadowed, but Heechul didn’t notice.
--
Kibum prodded Donghae sharply in the side and waited until Donghae groggily opened his eyes and pried his face away from his textbook. “What?” he asked sleepily, yawning and swiping a hand over his cheek to check for drool.
“Late night?” Kibum asked, standing next to Donghae’s desk. “You’ve been out since first period.”
Donghae shrugged. “You know how it is-I was busy out partying and getting drunk and all that fun stuff.”
Kibum leaned his hip against the desk, his uniform pulling tight around him as he crossed his arms. He had that skeptical look on his face again, which only made Donghae smile reflexively. Kibum was always overanalyzing everything.
“You mean, you were out hauling back certain friends who were out partying and getting drunk.”
Always overanalyzing and not always wrong. Donghae shrugged again, blithe and dismissive. “It’s no big deal,” he said lazily. “Heechul is Heechul. And you know I don’t pay attention in class anyway.” He rubbed at his eyes again and then stretched, moaning a little. “Oh my god, I’m so sore. All that dance practice.”
Donghae knew that Kibum knew he was trying to change the subject, because Kibum’s eyes were sharp behind his glasses. But he let it go. “You’re such a little whiner,” Kibum said, smiling and knocking the side of his fist lightly against Donghae’s head. “You’re in the school’s top dance team. You should be used to a little strenuous exercise.”
Donghae made a face and pouted, and then spent the rest of their break complaining about Kibum’s lack of compassion for his fellow humankind.
--
The day after drinking himself sick with Kangin, Heechul was always too tired to engage in long fights with Yuri. He tended to be more irritable, but as he could only snap at both Yuri and Donghae from where he was reclining against the mirror, the other two found it was easier all around to just ignore him.
“Yah, that’s a hideous move,” Heechul sniped half-heartedly. “Do you think you’re still doing ballet? That’s not what this dance team’s about, so if you think it is, you can just go back to your frilly pink tutus.”
Yuri rolled her eyes and continued working on her spin.
“And Donghae! What is that combination? You’re getting as bad as Yuri recently. Even the fatty came up with things better than that. I can’t believe he abandoned us for that stupid judo club, and that dumbass Kangin .I guess stupid people attract stupid people…”
Donghae listened to Heechul mutter under his breath with half an ear, the other tuned to the beat as he danced, interrupting only once to say, “At some point, Heechul, you should drink some water. You’re probably dehydrated.”
After a while, Heechul fell silent and watched the other two members of the dance team. His eyes lingered on Donghae far longer than they did on Yuri.
--
“You’re drunk again?” Donghae asked in exasperation.
“Look, this was not my fault,” Heechul protested. “Did you know Siwon’s never gotten drunk before in his life? I mean, god, I know he’s student body president and perfect and all that, but what kind of life has he been living? I was only joking about having a stick up his ass but he’s really like this robot-”
Donghae groaned and rolled over, his phone to his ear. “Just tell me where you are,” he said. Heechul babbled something in his ear and he groaned again. “Okay, okay. I’ll be there in, like, twenty minutes.”
He hung up and peered apologetically at Kibum. “Sorry, I have to go get Heechul. You can stay if you want and play whatever.” He gestured at the array of video games spilled across his bedroom floor. Then he scrunched up his face and asked, “Er, by the way. Do you know how to get to Siwon’s place?”
Kibum only stared at him. “You go through so much shit for that princess.” But he was reaching for a pencil and a scrap of paper, scribbling down directions to Siwon’s house. “You’re lucky I’ve been there for student council work, Donghae. Actually, Heechul is lucky.”
Donghae grinned and got to his feet. He ruffled Kibum’s hair as he passed. “Yeah, Rella’s a lucky little bitch to have a friend like me. Don’t worry, he knows it.”
Kibum watched him leave with a contemplative look.
--
“Hi,” chirped Heechul, his eyes a little glassy. His hair was down tonight, longer than it had been a few months ago, falling past his shoulders. In the dark, he could easily be mistaken for a girl. He was perched on a low wall, his feet swinging idly.
Donghae crossed his arms. “This is the third time in two weeks.”
“Well it’s not my fault I’m a good drinking partner,” Heechul said defensively. “I was catching up with some guys from junior high. Hankyung, Sungmin…you know, the other, idol-types.” He made a floppy gesture with one hand, though Donghae wasn’t quite sure what it was supposed to indicate. “From when that guy was throwing shit at people. Disgusting, by the way.”
Donghae laughed at the reference to Kibum. “Whatever, Heechul, I don’t really care about your excuses.” He took a step forward and wrapped his arm around Heechul’s waist, skinny under his pink-and-white striped shirt, and helped him to his feet.
“You know,” Heechul said thoughtfully as he leaned into Donghae, his voice faraway. “You don’t have to come get me every time.”
“You’d never make it home otherwise, you know that. Stop wriggling.”
Heechul’s hand came up, finger extended, and he poked Donghae in the cheek. Donghae looked up at him and was surprised to find Heechul regarding him solemnly, almost soberly. But his voice was still misty when he spoke. “Don’t you have better things to do than come fetch me every time? I mean, you have that nerdy ex-student council boy, Kim Kibum. Your best friend.”
Donghae didn’t say anything for a minute, only looking back at Heechul in the dim glow cast by a nearby streetlight. His thoughts were warring behind his eyes, calm and serious for once. Then he smiled again and his eyes sparked. He combed his fingers through Heechul’s hair, patted Heechul’s cheek affectionately. “C’mon, Rella, Kibum’s my best friend but I haven’t known him since I was, like, five years old. We’re different.”
Heechul smiled too, a little drunkenly, but he appeared satisfied with Donghae’s answer. “Well then, lead me on home, Pinocchio,” he said grandly, sweeping his arm out and almost tipping over from the force of it.
--
“Donghae,” Kibum said hesitantly. “You like Heechul, don’t you?”
He was startled when Donghae burst out laughing and nearly fell off the park bench, clutching his sides. Kibum stared in bemusement until Donghae’s laughter finally waned and he said, with a grin, “I’m starting to doubt how smart you are, Kibummie. Did you seriously only just figure that out?”
“Oh shut up,” said Kibum, slightly embarrassed, and shouldered Donghae hard.
--
After years of dragging Heechul home from his drunken escapades, Donghae was now only beginning to discover a problem. Heechul had inexplicably become incredibly touchy-feely when drunk, a recent and not entirely welcome development, in Donghae’s opinion. Very recent, he thought suspiciously, taking Heechul home after the fourth drinking party in three weeks.
“You’re my favorite,” Heechul breathed, his lips practically touching Donghae’s ear.
“Don’t make me drop you,” Donghae threatened, shoving at Heechul to cover up his involuntary shiver.
“You wouldn’t drop me.” Heechul sounded smugly certain, and then his arms looped around Donghae’s waist, fingers running idly over the fabric of Donghae’s shirt. He seemed disinclined to keep walking, feet stilling as he draped himself over his childhood friend. “You like me too much,” he murmured into Donghae’s neck.
Donghae swallowed hard as Heechul unmistakably kissed his collarbone, then chuckled into Donghae’s shirt.
“Heechul,” Donghae said warningly. “You’re drunk out of your mind.”
“Mmhmm,” Heechul agreed. “But I can trust you, can’t I?” He lifted his head and looked at Donghae from under his lashes, all flirtatious and girly, the way Donghae knew Heechul was occasionally, when he wanted to play up his looks and get away with things people wouldn’t let him get away with otherwise.
Donghae bit his lip and wondered when he’d become the hyung of the relationship. He and Heechul were the same age, technically, but Heechul was three months older, a fact he’d lorded over Donghae when they were young.
Now, though…
“You’re cute,” Heechul said in that soft, drunken tone. “And you’re too nice to me. Are you this nice to all your childhood friends, Donghae?”
Now, Donghae really wished Heechul would just stop looking at him like that.
--
Donghae had known Heechul since they were both five years old. They had gone to the same primary school and then to the same junior high, and now they attended Neul Paran together. They hadn’t been best friends or anything, and Donghae still wouldn’t call them best friends, but they had been playmates when they were young and they had never quite grown out of that. When Heechul had decided to start a dance team in junior high, Donghae hadn’t been the first recruit-he’d been the co-founder.
Being around someone almost daily for twelve years gave you a certain perspective on their character. Donghae thought he knew Heechul pretty well-better than most, in any case. He didn’t mind the girly looks or the temper tantrums or what Kibum generally termed Heechul’s “princess” behavior. It all came part and parcel with the less visible parts of Heechul: the unspoken loyalty, the occasional bouts of insecurity, the determination to make something out of himself, to be noticed, even if he had to be loud, outspoken, and rebellious to do so.
What Donghae liked best about Heechul, though he never really sat down and thought about it, was how Heechul didn’t treat his friends lightly. He would snap at them and mock them and get angry at them all the time, but he never dismissed them or took them for granted. He didn’t play that way. He always gave his all to his friendships, never capricious about these relationships the way he could be capricious about everything else.
Donghae liked that, and that became a large part of why he began to like Heechul, though that was another thing he never really sat down and thought about: it had happened to him, gradually, rather without his full awareness, until one day he realized that, oh. But Donghae wasn’t the melodramatic type-that was Heechul’s forte-nor was he the type to suppress his feelings until he did something stupid-that was Kibum; Donghae only blinked, accepted it as fact, and moved on with his life, internally shifting only enough to allow for this new piece of himself to fit comfortably with everything else.
Donghae liked Heechul and Heechul cared about his friends, and that was enough for Donghae.
But now Heechul was drunk, and he was flirting, touching, teasing, kissing-and none of it meant anything. Now, Heechul was smiling at Donghae with his eyes glazed over and his lips damp from his own tongue, his hand reaching up for Donghae’s face, and Donghae turned away.
--
At school, Heechul showed no signs of remembering the way he’d flirted with Donghae last night, when he was drunk. He was as tired and irritable as always, snapping at Yuri, who was growing more and more immune, and complaining about how Kangin was trying to steal the dance team’s funds by petitioning the student council.
“He already stole one of our members! And I bet he still only knows that one stupid judo move,” Heechul raged.
Donghae wiped the sweat off his brow and stood at the back of the room, chest heaving as he panted for breath. “Are you ever going to shut up and learn this dance?” he snapped, and Yuri stopped mid-movement, because Donghae never yelled at Heechul, even when Heechul was at his worst.
Heechul himself fell silent, staring.
“I mean, just.” Donghae ran his hand over his face and his shoulders slumped. “Never mind. Just forget it. Do whatever. I’m going to get some water.” He let the door slam behind him.
--
Kibum didn’t say anything about the way Donghae was now assiduously avoiding Heechul when he didn’t have to see him during dance practice. Donghae was carefree about it, seemingly unconcerned as continued as before, skipping class or sleeping through it, dragging Kibum to eat or to play video games after school. Occasionally, he even convinced Kibum to drink with him, or mostly watch him drink, though Donghae never got as drunk as Heechul did.
Things passed like this for a week, Donghae still laughing as much as he ever did, still teasing and playful and weird, but sometimes a shadow would pass over his face and his eyes would dim, turn distant. Kibum watched him then, for a moment, and then said something or other that would always bring Donghae back, ready smile on his face.
A week passed, and then Donghae’s phone rang one night while he was at Kibum’s, ostensibly doing his math homework, but mostly flipping through magazines as Kibum studied.
“It’s Heechul,” Donghae said, before even fishing his cell phone from his back pocket. He looked subdued, suddenly. “I know the ringtone.”
After a moment of hesitation, he answered it.
“Donghae-yah,” Heechul said loudly, same as he always did, “I’m drunk. At the same place I always am with Kangin. Will you come get me?”
It was as if nothing had changed. Donghae replied, “I’ll be there in ten,” before he had time to think about it, his response conditioned. He glanced over at Kibum as he hung up.
“You should tell him,” Kibum said noncommittally.
“Maybe.” Donghae climbed off the bed and slid his phone back into his pocket again. He looked thoughtful. It was as if nothing had changed and maybe it was better this way, easier. It wasn’t as if he’d ever needed more. “Maybe,” he repeated, “but it’s okay this way too.” He grinned at Kibum and tossed him the magazine. “Do my homework too? I’ll see you tomorrow.”
--
Heechul was attempting to light a cigarette when Donghae showed up. Donghae snatched the cigarette away from him and tossed it to the ground as he approached. “Don’t be stupid,” he said in lieu of a greeting. “I thought you didn’t smoke.”
“I don’t really.” Heechul had propped himself up against the side of the tiny restaurant, the warm glow of the inside lighting him up from behind. “But Kangin was being a dick about, I don’t know, something about real men and stupid shit like that.” He waved his hand in the air vaguely, and Donghae caught it with his own.
He smiled, affectionately. “Drunk as always, Rella. Let’s go home.”
Heechul was strangely accommodating as they struggled down the darkened street. Two blocks later, in their familiar position of Heechul draped over Donghae’s side, he pulled to an abrupt stop. “I have this idea,” he announced. Without further ado, he pulled a startled Donghae into the alley to their left and pressed him up against the wall.
“What the hell,” Donghae managed to ask before Heechul kissed him.
Donghae was too surprised to do anything but stand there, Heechul’s mouth moving over his own, his hands coming to a rest on Donghae’s hips.
“Heechul,” Donghae tried to say, but then Heechul only pressed closer and opened his mouth into the kiss. Donghae gave into the warm flush creeping under his skin, despite the chill of the night. He tilted his head to the side and fit his mouth better against Heechul’s, sliding their tongues against each other.
Heechul murmured something low in his throat and adjusted his stance until one thigh was pressed tightly between Donghae’s and Donghae’s breath suddenly caught in his throat. His pulse leaped as he could feel himself harden.
“Heechul,” he tried to say again into Heechul’s mouth, but Heechul was having none of that, kissing more fiercely and running the tips of his fingers under the hem of Donghae’s shirt.
Donghae could taste the alcohol on Heechul’s tongue. He knew this had to be a bad idea, but Heechul was rocking into him now, little thrusts of his hip against Donghae’s, and it was so hard to think straight. Donghae’s hands came up to grip Heechul’s shoulders and pull him closer, kissing him sloppily between panted breaths.
Heechul nipped at Donghae’s bottom lip and finally pulled away, barely, his face still inches from Donghae’s. “I knew it,” he breathed, and the triumphant tone to his voice wasn’t unfamiliar. He had always been too cocky. Donghae closed his eyes so he wouldn’t have to stare, already dizzy.
“What did you know?” he asked.
“That you liked me.” Heechul’s voice also had a curl of a smirk in it, matching the way he brushed his knuckles against Donghae’s stomach underneath his shirt: teasing but sure. “You’re a pretty easy read, Lee Donghae.”
“And you’re a bitch.” Donghae gasped as Heechul moved his thigh against his erection. “Fuck.”
Heechul leaned in again and kissed Donghae lightly, kissed the corner of his mouth, his jaw. “You were always too good to me,” he said. “No one is that nice to their childhood friends. Hell, I don’t even talk to most of mine anymore.”
Donghae opened his eyes. “You still talk to me,” he pointed out hesitantly.
“That’s because I like you too, you moron.” Heechul laughed at the look on Donghae’s face and kissed him again, hungrily. “Why do you think I went out drinking so much? I liked the way you held me on the way back.” He didn’t sound embarrassed at all by his admission, which Donghae would have admired except he was too distracted by mouthing Heechul’s neck. “If I’d turned into an alcoholic, I would’ve held you completely responsible.”
Good lord. “Kibum’s right, you’re a fucking princess,” Donghae said into the heat of Heechul’s skin, but he supposed he didn’t mind so much. He kissed Heechul again, and again.
--
“Please spare me the details,” Kibum groaned when Donghae showed up in class the next day with a wide, unstoppable grin and a bounce in his step.
“I wasn’t going to tell you anything,” Donghae promised cheerfully as he sat down on Kibum’s desk. “I’m saving it all to rub in Kangin’s face. And possibly Siwon’s.”
Kibum raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you had anything against the two of them.”
Donghae scoffed. “Please, as if I don’t know why they keep going out to drink with Heechul. They both want in his pants.” Surrounding students turned to look at them and Kibum groaned again, shoving Donghae off his desk.
“Shut up and go sit down.”
Donghae did so, still relentlessly cheerful. Kibum glanced at him occasionally over his shoulder as class started. When the teacher launched into her first lecture of the day, Kibum carefully ripped out a small square from his notebook and wrote, in his neat handwriting: Please at least tell me you top someone as girly as Heechul.
He folded the note up and flicked it to Donghae behind the teacher’s back. From the corner of his eye, he watched Donghae lean back in his chair and laugh silently as he read it.
A few seconds later, a note landed on Kibum’s desk.
Wouldn’t you like to know. ;)
--
Started/Finished: 06.16.08
Notes: You have no idea how gleeful I am at finally finishing a movie!verse fic. The first thing I wanted to do as soon as I got into SuJu fandom was write movie!verse fic (because I got into SuJu via the movie), but that epic KiHae just...looks like it'll never get finished. But I'm really pleased with this CinHae (I finally wrote CinHae yey!); I can't believe more people don't write it. Anyway, one day I'll write a KiHae movie!verse, I swear it.
Drinking Games
Super Junior - movie!verse, CinHae, PG-13, 4000 words
Donghae is always the one Heechul calls when he's drunk.
Drinking Games
by meitachi
“No! No, no, no,” Heechul exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. “You’re doing it all wrong. Oh, this is why I hate girls.” He glared at Yuri theatrically and put his hands on his hips, shaking his head until his hair whipped around his face.
Yuri glared right back. “Look, just because you can’t dance...” She had lost her idol crush on Heechul within a very short time of joining the dance group and now the two of them were butting heads every practice.
“Here,” Heechul sighed dramatically. “Let me show you. For the fifteenth time. Try to pay attention this time, okay? I don’t have that much time to waste, showing you over and over again.”
“Oh, please, do show me.”
Donghae leaned against the mirror of the practice room and watched the two of them snarl at each other. Heechul performed the section of the dance routine that he’d been complaining about, the part he’d choreographed. It involved a twist of the shoulders and a bit of leaning forward, then back, and Donghae had never quite seen anything quite so girly, but Heechul was adamant about keeping it in the routine.
Yuri watched Heechul skeptically and said, “That’s exactly what I was doing!”
Heechul turned on her again and then they were arguing again, Heechul’s hands on her shoulders as he tried to physically demonstrate. Donghae yawned, ran a hand through his hair, and pulled out his iPod. “Just let me know when you’re ready to move on,” he told the unhearing couple, because he’d already mastered the entire routine in the past week while the other two had been shouting at each other. He put his earphones in and closed his eyes, bobbing his head to the music.
--
“I don’t know how you put up with such a girly, melodramatic princess like that,” Kibum said, slowly spinning his desk chair around to face Donghae, who was sprawled unapologetically across Kibum’s bed. “And I don’t mean Yuri-sshi.”
Donghae only shrugged and grinned. “I’ve known Heechul forever. I’m used to it.”
Kibum looked at him evenly from behind his glasses. “You’re surprisingly tolerant when it comes to him.”
Donghae raised an eyebrow. “Kibummie, I’m surprisingly tolerant about everything.” His mouth quirked. “Should I remind you about a certain friend committing certain unspeakable crimes?” He laughed outright when Kibum flushed. Rolling over, he hugged one of Kibum’s pillows to his chest and stared up at the ceiling in consideration. “It’s no big deal. Like I said, we’ve known each other forever. I’ve seen him at his worst, believe me.”
Kibum didn’t say anything, only looked at him thoughtfully.
“Stop trying to analyze me, you nerd!” The pillow arced through the air at Kibum’s head.
--
“Kangin is such a stupid jerkface,” Heechul declared loudly into Donghae’s ear, pitching forward as he stumbled.
Donghae grabbed his waist and hauled him upright again, adjusting the arm Heechul had slung across Donghae’s shoulders. “Yeah, yeah, I know.” He wrinkled his nose at the smell of alcohol on Heechul’s breath. “And yet you go drinking with him once a week.”
“Well,” sputtered Heechul. “Well, someone has to remind him how dumb he is.” Heechul’s words were still loud, and his hair was all over the place, escaping from his ponytail and brushing against the side of Donghae’s face. It blurred into the darkness of the night, stark contrast to the pale light of Heechul’s face.
Donghae blinked. “You’re so drunk,” he sighed.
“Mm, that’s true,” Heechul agreed. He stumbled again, falling heavily into Donghae’s side and eliciting a muttered curse. “But I drank that stupid musclehead who thinks he knows judo under the table.” He smirked, pleased with himself.
Donghae only shook his head. “You’re just lucky you don’t get hangovers. You’re a bitch enough as it is. I can’t imagine what you’d be like with a killer headache on top of all that.” He laughed as Heechul made an affronted noise, turning an outraged expression to Donghae. “Shut up, Heechul, I’m dragging you home. You don’t get to bitch at people who haul you back from your drunken revelries every time.”
Heechul huffed and snarled, but he didn’t try to pull away from Donghae. Instead he crooked the arm around Donghae’s shoulders and hooked it around Donghae’s neck. “I am a bitch,” he mused, sounding pleased. “I’m the best ever. You’re so lucky to be my friend.”
“Yeah, lucky.” Donghae laughed at him again, but he pulled away slightly. His eyes flickered to the ground briefly, shadowed, but Heechul didn’t notice.
--
Kibum prodded Donghae sharply in the side and waited until Donghae groggily opened his eyes and pried his face away from his textbook. “What?” he asked sleepily, yawning and swiping a hand over his cheek to check for drool.
“Late night?” Kibum asked, standing next to Donghae’s desk. “You’ve been out since first period.”
Donghae shrugged. “You know how it is-I was busy out partying and getting drunk and all that fun stuff.”
Kibum leaned his hip against the desk, his uniform pulling tight around him as he crossed his arms. He had that skeptical look on his face again, which only made Donghae smile reflexively. Kibum was always overanalyzing everything.
“You mean, you were out hauling back certain friends who were out partying and getting drunk.”
Always overanalyzing and not always wrong. Donghae shrugged again, blithe and dismissive. “It’s no big deal,” he said lazily. “Heechul is Heechul. And you know I don’t pay attention in class anyway.” He rubbed at his eyes again and then stretched, moaning a little. “Oh my god, I’m so sore. All that dance practice.”
Donghae knew that Kibum knew he was trying to change the subject, because Kibum’s eyes were sharp behind his glasses. But he let it go. “You’re such a little whiner,” Kibum said, smiling and knocking the side of his fist lightly against Donghae’s head. “You’re in the school’s top dance team. You should be used to a little strenuous exercise.”
Donghae made a face and pouted, and then spent the rest of their break complaining about Kibum’s lack of compassion for his fellow humankind.
--
The day after drinking himself sick with Kangin, Heechul was always too tired to engage in long fights with Yuri. He tended to be more irritable, but as he could only snap at both Yuri and Donghae from where he was reclining against the mirror, the other two found it was easier all around to just ignore him.
“Yah, that’s a hideous move,” Heechul sniped half-heartedly. “Do you think you’re still doing ballet? That’s not what this dance team’s about, so if you think it is, you can just go back to your frilly pink tutus.”
Yuri rolled her eyes and continued working on her spin.
“And Donghae! What is that combination? You’re getting as bad as Yuri recently. Even the fatty came up with things better than that. I can’t believe he abandoned us for that stupid judo club, and that dumbass Kangin .I guess stupid people attract stupid people…”
Donghae listened to Heechul mutter under his breath with half an ear, the other tuned to the beat as he danced, interrupting only once to say, “At some point, Heechul, you should drink some water. You’re probably dehydrated.”
After a while, Heechul fell silent and watched the other two members of the dance team. His eyes lingered on Donghae far longer than they did on Yuri.
--
“You’re drunk again?” Donghae asked in exasperation.
“Look, this was not my fault,” Heechul protested. “Did you know Siwon’s never gotten drunk before in his life? I mean, god, I know he’s student body president and perfect and all that, but what kind of life has he been living? I was only joking about having a stick up his ass but he’s really like this robot-”
Donghae groaned and rolled over, his phone to his ear. “Just tell me where you are,” he said. Heechul babbled something in his ear and he groaned again. “Okay, okay. I’ll be there in, like, twenty minutes.”
He hung up and peered apologetically at Kibum. “Sorry, I have to go get Heechul. You can stay if you want and play whatever.” He gestured at the array of video games spilled across his bedroom floor. Then he scrunched up his face and asked, “Er, by the way. Do you know how to get to Siwon’s place?”
Kibum only stared at him. “You go through so much shit for that princess.” But he was reaching for a pencil and a scrap of paper, scribbling down directions to Siwon’s house. “You’re lucky I’ve been there for student council work, Donghae. Actually, Heechul is lucky.”
Donghae grinned and got to his feet. He ruffled Kibum’s hair as he passed. “Yeah, Rella’s a lucky little bitch to have a friend like me. Don’t worry, he knows it.”
Kibum watched him leave with a contemplative look.
--
“Hi,” chirped Heechul, his eyes a little glassy. His hair was down tonight, longer than it had been a few months ago, falling past his shoulders. In the dark, he could easily be mistaken for a girl. He was perched on a low wall, his feet swinging idly.
Donghae crossed his arms. “This is the third time in two weeks.”
“Well it’s not my fault I’m a good drinking partner,” Heechul said defensively. “I was catching up with some guys from junior high. Hankyung, Sungmin…you know, the other, idol-types.” He made a floppy gesture with one hand, though Donghae wasn’t quite sure what it was supposed to indicate. “From when that guy was throwing shit at people. Disgusting, by the way.”
Donghae laughed at the reference to Kibum. “Whatever, Heechul, I don’t really care about your excuses.” He took a step forward and wrapped his arm around Heechul’s waist, skinny under his pink-and-white striped shirt, and helped him to his feet.
“You know,” Heechul said thoughtfully as he leaned into Donghae, his voice faraway. “You don’t have to come get me every time.”
“You’d never make it home otherwise, you know that. Stop wriggling.”
Heechul’s hand came up, finger extended, and he poked Donghae in the cheek. Donghae looked up at him and was surprised to find Heechul regarding him solemnly, almost soberly. But his voice was still misty when he spoke. “Don’t you have better things to do than come fetch me every time? I mean, you have that nerdy ex-student council boy, Kim Kibum. Your best friend.”
Donghae didn’t say anything for a minute, only looking back at Heechul in the dim glow cast by a nearby streetlight. His thoughts were warring behind his eyes, calm and serious for once. Then he smiled again and his eyes sparked. He combed his fingers through Heechul’s hair, patted Heechul’s cheek affectionately. “C’mon, Rella, Kibum’s my best friend but I haven’t known him since I was, like, five years old. We’re different.”
Heechul smiled too, a little drunkenly, but he appeared satisfied with Donghae’s answer. “Well then, lead me on home, Pinocchio,” he said grandly, sweeping his arm out and almost tipping over from the force of it.
--
“Donghae,” Kibum said hesitantly. “You like Heechul, don’t you?”
He was startled when Donghae burst out laughing and nearly fell off the park bench, clutching his sides. Kibum stared in bemusement until Donghae’s laughter finally waned and he said, with a grin, “I’m starting to doubt how smart you are, Kibummie. Did you seriously only just figure that out?”
“Oh shut up,” said Kibum, slightly embarrassed, and shouldered Donghae hard.
--
After years of dragging Heechul home from his drunken escapades, Donghae was now only beginning to discover a problem. Heechul had inexplicably become incredibly touchy-feely when drunk, a recent and not entirely welcome development, in Donghae’s opinion. Very recent, he thought suspiciously, taking Heechul home after the fourth drinking party in three weeks.
“You’re my favorite,” Heechul breathed, his lips practically touching Donghae’s ear.
“Don’t make me drop you,” Donghae threatened, shoving at Heechul to cover up his involuntary shiver.
“You wouldn’t drop me.” Heechul sounded smugly certain, and then his arms looped around Donghae’s waist, fingers running idly over the fabric of Donghae’s shirt. He seemed disinclined to keep walking, feet stilling as he draped himself over his childhood friend. “You like me too much,” he murmured into Donghae’s neck.
Donghae swallowed hard as Heechul unmistakably kissed his collarbone, then chuckled into Donghae’s shirt.
“Heechul,” Donghae said warningly. “You’re drunk out of your mind.”
“Mmhmm,” Heechul agreed. “But I can trust you, can’t I?” He lifted his head and looked at Donghae from under his lashes, all flirtatious and girly, the way Donghae knew Heechul was occasionally, when he wanted to play up his looks and get away with things people wouldn’t let him get away with otherwise.
Donghae bit his lip and wondered when he’d become the hyung of the relationship. He and Heechul were the same age, technically, but Heechul was three months older, a fact he’d lorded over Donghae when they were young.
Now, though…
“You’re cute,” Heechul said in that soft, drunken tone. “And you’re too nice to me. Are you this nice to all your childhood friends, Donghae?”
Now, Donghae really wished Heechul would just stop looking at him like that.
--
Donghae had known Heechul since they were both five years old. They had gone to the same primary school and then to the same junior high, and now they attended Neul Paran together. They hadn’t been best friends or anything, and Donghae still wouldn’t call them best friends, but they had been playmates when they were young and they had never quite grown out of that. When Heechul had decided to start a dance team in junior high, Donghae hadn’t been the first recruit-he’d been the co-founder.
Being around someone almost daily for twelve years gave you a certain perspective on their character. Donghae thought he knew Heechul pretty well-better than most, in any case. He didn’t mind the girly looks or the temper tantrums or what Kibum generally termed Heechul’s “princess” behavior. It all came part and parcel with the less visible parts of Heechul: the unspoken loyalty, the occasional bouts of insecurity, the determination to make something out of himself, to be noticed, even if he had to be loud, outspoken, and rebellious to do so.
What Donghae liked best about Heechul, though he never really sat down and thought about it, was how Heechul didn’t treat his friends lightly. He would snap at them and mock them and get angry at them all the time, but he never dismissed them or took them for granted. He didn’t play that way. He always gave his all to his friendships, never capricious about these relationships the way he could be capricious about everything else.
Donghae liked that, and that became a large part of why he began to like Heechul, though that was another thing he never really sat down and thought about: it had happened to him, gradually, rather without his full awareness, until one day he realized that, oh. But Donghae wasn’t the melodramatic type-that was Heechul’s forte-nor was he the type to suppress his feelings until he did something stupid-that was Kibum; Donghae only blinked, accepted it as fact, and moved on with his life, internally shifting only enough to allow for this new piece of himself to fit comfortably with everything else.
Donghae liked Heechul and Heechul cared about his friends, and that was enough for Donghae.
But now Heechul was drunk, and he was flirting, touching, teasing, kissing-and none of it meant anything. Now, Heechul was smiling at Donghae with his eyes glazed over and his lips damp from his own tongue, his hand reaching up for Donghae’s face, and Donghae turned away.
--
At school, Heechul showed no signs of remembering the way he’d flirted with Donghae last night, when he was drunk. He was as tired and irritable as always, snapping at Yuri, who was growing more and more immune, and complaining about how Kangin was trying to steal the dance team’s funds by petitioning the student council.
“He already stole one of our members! And I bet he still only knows that one stupid judo move,” Heechul raged.
Donghae wiped the sweat off his brow and stood at the back of the room, chest heaving as he panted for breath. “Are you ever going to shut up and learn this dance?” he snapped, and Yuri stopped mid-movement, because Donghae never yelled at Heechul, even when Heechul was at his worst.
Heechul himself fell silent, staring.
“I mean, just.” Donghae ran his hand over his face and his shoulders slumped. “Never mind. Just forget it. Do whatever. I’m going to get some water.” He let the door slam behind him.
--
Kibum didn’t say anything about the way Donghae was now assiduously avoiding Heechul when he didn’t have to see him during dance practice. Donghae was carefree about it, seemingly unconcerned as continued as before, skipping class or sleeping through it, dragging Kibum to eat or to play video games after school. Occasionally, he even convinced Kibum to drink with him, or mostly watch him drink, though Donghae never got as drunk as Heechul did.
Things passed like this for a week, Donghae still laughing as much as he ever did, still teasing and playful and weird, but sometimes a shadow would pass over his face and his eyes would dim, turn distant. Kibum watched him then, for a moment, and then said something or other that would always bring Donghae back, ready smile on his face.
A week passed, and then Donghae’s phone rang one night while he was at Kibum’s, ostensibly doing his math homework, but mostly flipping through magazines as Kibum studied.
“It’s Heechul,” Donghae said, before even fishing his cell phone from his back pocket. He looked subdued, suddenly. “I know the ringtone.”
After a moment of hesitation, he answered it.
“Donghae-yah,” Heechul said loudly, same as he always did, “I’m drunk. At the same place I always am with Kangin. Will you come get me?”
It was as if nothing had changed. Donghae replied, “I’ll be there in ten,” before he had time to think about it, his response conditioned. He glanced over at Kibum as he hung up.
“You should tell him,” Kibum said noncommittally.
“Maybe.” Donghae climbed off the bed and slid his phone back into his pocket again. He looked thoughtful. It was as if nothing had changed and maybe it was better this way, easier. It wasn’t as if he’d ever needed more. “Maybe,” he repeated, “but it’s okay this way too.” He grinned at Kibum and tossed him the magazine. “Do my homework too? I’ll see you tomorrow.”
--
Heechul was attempting to light a cigarette when Donghae showed up. Donghae snatched the cigarette away from him and tossed it to the ground as he approached. “Don’t be stupid,” he said in lieu of a greeting. “I thought you didn’t smoke.”
“I don’t really.” Heechul had propped himself up against the side of the tiny restaurant, the warm glow of the inside lighting him up from behind. “But Kangin was being a dick about, I don’t know, something about real men and stupid shit like that.” He waved his hand in the air vaguely, and Donghae caught it with his own.
He smiled, affectionately. “Drunk as always, Rella. Let’s go home.”
Heechul was strangely accommodating as they struggled down the darkened street. Two blocks later, in their familiar position of Heechul draped over Donghae’s side, he pulled to an abrupt stop. “I have this idea,” he announced. Without further ado, he pulled a startled Donghae into the alley to their left and pressed him up against the wall.
“What the hell,” Donghae managed to ask before Heechul kissed him.
Donghae was too surprised to do anything but stand there, Heechul’s mouth moving over his own, his hands coming to a rest on Donghae’s hips.
“Heechul,” Donghae tried to say, but then Heechul only pressed closer and opened his mouth into the kiss. Donghae gave into the warm flush creeping under his skin, despite the chill of the night. He tilted his head to the side and fit his mouth better against Heechul’s, sliding their tongues against each other.
Heechul murmured something low in his throat and adjusted his stance until one thigh was pressed tightly between Donghae’s and Donghae’s breath suddenly caught in his throat. His pulse leaped as he could feel himself harden.
“Heechul,” he tried to say again into Heechul’s mouth, but Heechul was having none of that, kissing more fiercely and running the tips of his fingers under the hem of Donghae’s shirt.
Donghae could taste the alcohol on Heechul’s tongue. He knew this had to be a bad idea, but Heechul was rocking into him now, little thrusts of his hip against Donghae’s, and it was so hard to think straight. Donghae’s hands came up to grip Heechul’s shoulders and pull him closer, kissing him sloppily between panted breaths.
Heechul nipped at Donghae’s bottom lip and finally pulled away, barely, his face still inches from Donghae’s. “I knew it,” he breathed, and the triumphant tone to his voice wasn’t unfamiliar. He had always been too cocky. Donghae closed his eyes so he wouldn’t have to stare, already dizzy.
“What did you know?” he asked.
“That you liked me.” Heechul’s voice also had a curl of a smirk in it, matching the way he brushed his knuckles against Donghae’s stomach underneath his shirt: teasing but sure. “You’re a pretty easy read, Lee Donghae.”
“And you’re a bitch.” Donghae gasped as Heechul moved his thigh against his erection. “Fuck.”
Heechul leaned in again and kissed Donghae lightly, kissed the corner of his mouth, his jaw. “You were always too good to me,” he said. “No one is that nice to their childhood friends. Hell, I don’t even talk to most of mine anymore.”
Donghae opened his eyes. “You still talk to me,” he pointed out hesitantly.
“That’s because I like you too, you moron.” Heechul laughed at the look on Donghae’s face and kissed him again, hungrily. “Why do you think I went out drinking so much? I liked the way you held me on the way back.” He didn’t sound embarrassed at all by his admission, which Donghae would have admired except he was too distracted by mouthing Heechul’s neck. “If I’d turned into an alcoholic, I would’ve held you completely responsible.”
Good lord. “Kibum’s right, you’re a fucking princess,” Donghae said into the heat of Heechul’s skin, but he supposed he didn’t mind so much. He kissed Heechul again, and again.
--
“Please spare me the details,” Kibum groaned when Donghae showed up in class the next day with a wide, unstoppable grin and a bounce in his step.
“I wasn’t going to tell you anything,” Donghae promised cheerfully as he sat down on Kibum’s desk. “I’m saving it all to rub in Kangin’s face. And possibly Siwon’s.”
Kibum raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you had anything against the two of them.”
Donghae scoffed. “Please, as if I don’t know why they keep going out to drink with Heechul. They both want in his pants.” Surrounding students turned to look at them and Kibum groaned again, shoving Donghae off his desk.
“Shut up and go sit down.”
Donghae did so, still relentlessly cheerful. Kibum glanced at him occasionally over his shoulder as class started. When the teacher launched into her first lecture of the day, Kibum carefully ripped out a small square from his notebook and wrote, in his neat handwriting: Please at least tell me you top someone as girly as Heechul.
He folded the note up and flicked it to Donghae behind the teacher’s back. From the corner of his eye, he watched Donghae lean back in his chair and laugh silently as he read it.
A few seconds later, a note landed on Kibum’s desk.
Wouldn’t you like to know. ;)
--
Started/Finished: 06.16.08
Notes: You have no idea how gleeful I am at finally finishing a movie!verse fic. The first thing I wanted to do as soon as I got into SuJu fandom was write movie!verse fic (because I got into SuJu via the movie), but that epic KiHae just...looks like it'll never get finished. But I'm really pleased with this CinHae (I finally wrote CinHae yey!); I can't believe more people don't write it. Anyway, one day I'll write a KiHae movie!verse, I swear it.